Nestled in the Many Hands Courtyard on Tucson’s north side sits a casita filled with the smell of worn pages, twinkling fairy lights and palpable excitement for its upcoming grand opening celebration.

Owners Lillie Watson and Megan Downey envisioned Homeward Books Collective (3054 N. First Ave., #8) as a place that fosters sustainability, cooperation and advocacy for third spaces.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term "third place" to describe spaces that aren’t home or work, but places where people can relax, socialize and build community.

The shop, which celebrated its soft opening in late-January, aims to offer leftist literature and books with a focus on BIPOC, LGBTQ and Southwest topics.

Watson, a self-described book nerd, works as the Reading Seed program coordinator for Literacy Connects, a Tucson nonprofit that provides underserved communities the opportunity to gain and maintain literacy.

Her motivation for opening Homeward Books came from a desire to serve.

“My passion has always been to help provide to the community in some way,” Watson told Tucson Spotlight.

Downey, a local writer and artist, shares the same sentiments.

“I love getting people excited about access to information and all this stuff that's out there in the world,” Downey said.

The shop functions much like Bookmans, where Watson and Downey previously met. Members of the community can bring in gently used books, comics and board games in exchange for store credit. Homeward uses a transparent pay and pricing schedule that’s posted to its Instagram account and pays out store credit for 50% of the amount it will charge.

“A passion of ours is physical media. We want to keep it alive,” Watson said. “That's also the inspiration for opening the store—keeping physical media flowing through the community and not letting that die.”

The publishing industry contributes significant paper waste through the production and distribution of physical books, leading to deforestation, high energy consumption and landfill waste. But physical media consignment can be a solution to consumer concerns about the use of nonrenewable resources.

Buying used items can also help customers save money compared to purchasing a brand-new item.

Homeward’s business model is based on a worker-owned system, where instead of having a hierarchy of leadership with owners at the top and employees at the bottom, a cooperative levels ownership to all employees involved. This places the emphasis on democratic participation and decision-making.

“You spend like a third of your waking life at work. If you don't feel like you have a say in what happens, or don't have a place where you're getting paid for the value of the work that you're doing, you feel removed from that space,” Downey said. “A worker-owned cooperative is an attempt to say we don't need to have these big hierarchies of people and investors who are making all the decisions, who aren't doing the work or know the answers to the things that you're struggling with.”

A 2024 survey by the American Psychological Association found that 15% of workers reported being in a somewhat or very toxic work environment, characterized by poor interpersonal work relations, lack of accommodations for disability and lack of support from their employer.

That same survey concluded that employees who report satisfactory relationships with their coworkers and supervisors, as well as support for well-being, experience increased creativity, innovation and effective teamwork.

Watson has big plans for Homeward Books, including working with local mutual aid groups such as Amphi Liberation Mutual Aid and Community on Wheels.

The pair also hope to use the collective as a third space, letting community members hold meetings and hang out, and as a place to promote Tucson’s local author scene.

“We want to build that sense of home, having a place where people look forward to coming, looking forward to what we're gonna do next—like a home in a way, creating more space for people to feel safe, feel included,” Watson said.

Downey associates the word "homeward" with a sense of momentum.

“I think of homeward as a direction, that sense of moving forward towards some place that you know you're supposed to be, someplace that's safe and good, and that you've built together with people,” they said. “We want to be building something new, to be building a future that's better than what we have now. We haven't seen that yet, but we want to get there.”

Homeward Books Collective will hold its grand opening and a local vendors market on April 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Topacio "Topaz" Servellon is a University of Arizona journalism student.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please support our work with a paid subscription.