During his time at UT, alumnus Seth Gonzalez received a bill from the University amounting to nearly $17,000, all from overdue library books.
“I checked out probably two or three hundred books,” Gonzalez said. “One of them came due at the end of the semester … (which) caused this cascade of overdue material.”
After returning the books, the bill was lowered but not dropped. This led him to start buying and collecting his own books. Gonzalez (philosophy, history and anthropology, ‘17) opened the doors of Livra Books in Hyde Park on Saturday. He says his store is Austin’s second independent used bookstore. After years of collecting and selling books online and in his own backyard, Gonzalez now offers his curated selection of used books and an assortment of curiosities at his very own brick-and-mortar store.
“There’s a certain charm to used books,” Gonzalez said. “There’s something about reading a cheap, $4 book and seeing somebody’s annotations. You get a sense of how they were thinking about the thing that you are reading (and) you love.”
Gonzalez’s years of building his rare and used book collection facilitated his meetings with local booksellers who taught him about life as a bookseller in Austin.
“I think my eclectic interest in books allowed me to be a really good bookseller (and) be able to identify material that would be overlooked by others,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said his knack for book buying led him to a larger volume of books than he was able to sell solely online. As a solution, he opened his backyard to the people of Hyde Park.
“I saw it as an opportunity to start connecting with local book collectors, book buyers (and) book lovers,” Gonzalez said. “(I) started doing them once every few months, and it just kind of snowballed.”
The first backyard book sale took place November 2022. At these sales, Gonzalez displayed over 1,000 books on tables, shelves and lined neatly along rocks. English senior Lucas França Francisco said he has assisted Gonzalez with setup and organizational aspects for past backyard book sales.
“The backyard book sale as it exists right now is so pleasant. The physical, tangible atmosphere is so comforting,” Francisco said. “You can see that (Gonzalez) really cares a lot about what he does. It’s something that can only operate from a point of passion.”
Book lover Josh Ninmann said he first heard about the opening of Livra Books through the backyard sales. He attended the opening on Saturday, leaving with books on meteorites, astronomy and the human mind.
“I think the book selection is impeccable,” Ninmann said. “(There’s) a huge selection from poetry books to Spanish books to books on philosophy and theories and novels. (They’ve) got everything.”
Along with the selection, Ninmann said the ambiance of Livra Books makes the store unique. Plants hang over the shelves of hundreds of books while a burning candle and soft jazz add the final touch to the perfect ambiance.
“I would definitely like the input of others once they come in, feel the space and see what I have for them,” said Gonzalez. “I want to know what they would like to see (for) Austin’s second independent used bookstore.”
