Lafayette's newest bookstore combines the old with the new

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Kassandra Robertson has had a dream ever since she read "The Hobbit" when she was four years old. She wants to bring the written word to people.

"As you get older and go through many trials there are always words," Robertson said. "Words in the form of music, or lyrics, or poetry, or a novel, or simply just writing words on paper. It changes how you perceive the things around you."

Robertson's dream is now a reality in the form of Echoes in Ink. It's a used book store that opened on Main Street in Lafayette on Saturday.

Robertson owns the shop with Hannah Baker.

"This is definitely a big dream of mine," Baker said. "[It's great] to be able to open a bookstore and to be able to talk to people about literature all day and every day."

Robertson said she is running things a little differently. Right now the shelves at Echoes in Ink aren't fully stocked. Robertson said she is waiting for the community's feedback.

"I want to know what the people of Lafayette want to read in my shop," Robertson said. "We've designed the actual physical shop to be a place for people to come and hang out. But this is not our limit."

Echoes and Ink expands to the internet. Robertson said she knows brick and mortar bookstores are becoming scarce.

She will have e-books available. She is also putting her inventory online.

Robertson said a book is a book no matter how or where you read it.

"[The most important part] is the feeling you get when you read Robert Frost, or 'Anne of Green Gables,'" Robertson said. "When you read their works you become a part of their world. We don't care about the medium. We're going to have Kindles and Nooks, and make it easy and available."

The ladies of Echoes in Ink will also please those who still want to take a book from the shelf.

"Books have always been there," Baker said. "Paper shouldn't completely go away. You definitely need a hard copy."

To learn more about Echoes in Ink visit their website. The store offers different services, and is promoting the Give a Kid a Book program.