SARAH LONG/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Otto Bookstore staff and attendees of the “Big Reveal” event gather at the “Magic Reading Tree,” painted by Mandy Engel at the bookstore on West Fourth Street.

Recently, community members joined authors and staff at Otto Bookstore for the grand unveiling of the magical reading tree, painted by Mandy Engel in the children’s corner of Otto Bookstore.

Engel said she was a self-taught artist, and this is who she is “the second or third mural at Otto’s” and the third year she loves attending the First Friday festivities in Williamsport.

Kathryn Nassberg, co-owner of Otto Bookstore, the oldest independently owned bookstore in the country, announced to attendees that “Over the past year, Otto Bookstore has taken on the energy to bring it back to the full potential we’ve wanted it to be. We couldn’t have done it without our wonderful staff.”

Nassberg went on to explain how they want it “bookstores should be a hub for the community and this is a community that has been kind, generous and supportive so we want to give back and be a hub for literacy.”

Otto Bokhandel will launch a reading program also known as a reading pool, where children will be able to put their name on a leaf in the tree after reading a certain number of books. Their leaves will be added to the tree canopy, creating an interactive environment that promotes reading development. Nassberg stated how this will be a “living breathing tree” that grows with society.

John Shableski, the manager of the Otto Bookstore, has been a driving force in encouraging the promotion of writers, artists and the community. Shableski added how

“This moment of the introduction of the tree along with the festival allows us as a bookstore to take this to where it should be in the community and become a wonderful resource for families and anyone who wants to read or is just looking for a book,” Shableski said. “We want to feel at home!”

Shableski pointed out how he changed the space to be more open and they can accommodate many more patrons for book readings and events. Importantly, Shableski said how they will capture children’s interest by also asking the children to name the tree and then asking the children why they think the tree should be the chosen name.

Engel also encouraged the importance of other moms finding their niche.

“A lot of young mums lose themselves and this was a big thing for me, not having to depend on family and a lot of my friends started their own businesses to get out of postnatal depression.” she said.

Engel’s mother, Tina Capatch, told how Engel’s 7-year-old son, Kade Engel, keeps busy while her daughter paints and has seen “how they (daughter and granddaughter) have become closer, more than they have ever been.”

Many authors such as Shauna L. Grant, Judi Jessick, Harold Buchholz and Amy Chu attended the event.

“As parents, we must let our children do what they love” Grant’s mother, who came out to support her daughter, said, adding how she is so proud of her daughter for writing Mimi and the Cutie Catastrophe.

Chu, a comics writer, left his corporate job to follow his passion and is known for his six-issue miniseries Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death and some Wonder Woman issues for DC Comics and many other stories for Wonder.

“Agatha Livermore and the Magic Cookies Spoon – is a rhyming story, where Agatha Livermore lacks confidence and compares herself to her brothers and sister until she finds her own magic.” Jessick said of his book. She admitted “this is a struggle that both children and adults feel throughout their lives” and her book speaks to this feeling.

Buchholz created Wild and Wooly, the Sweetest Beasts Collection, to address issues such as bullying and being part of a group. Buchholz later wrote The Neat Before Christmas-How Santa Soiled My Home, a comical rhyming story that is funny and comical for all ages. Buchholz is also the executive producer of creator Joel Hodgson’s Mystery Science Theater 3000, which has been released on Netflix since 2017. As of 2023, 230 episodes and one feature film of Mystery Science Theater 3000 have been produced.