For the last 50 years, people from around the world have walked through the doors of the Mesilla Book Center searching for their favorite authors or Native American arts and craft products.
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Cheryll Blevins owns the bookstore and has operated it with her husband Paul. She inherited the store from her mother Mary Bowlin who operated the store for decades. Cheryll Blevins shares some history of the store that her parents bought in 1966 after selling books at the World’s Fair in New York for a couple of years.
“At that time Mesilla dirt roads there wasn’t much here. So it was kind of a leap of faith to take on the business,” says Blevins.
The store is located in an adobe building just off the plaza in Mesilla. Blevins says the building that was built in the 1850’s has housed a mercantile store that provided supplies to the Black Range during the Silver boom there. It also served as a pool hall at one time, which offered poker games.
With corporate chains and online options, a locally- owned bookstore has its challenges. Blevins shares some reasons why she thinks the bookstore has been able to last 50 years.
“We’ll basically, we’re a non-profit," says Blevins (laughing). "We specialize in a lot of Western, Southwestern history, a lot of local authors, we have children’s books. We’ve always tried to not carry what you can find at the mall,” says Blevins.
Paul Blevins says that they have had very loyal customers over the years, and that has helped as well. He enjoys the interaction with people on a daily basis.
“The nice part of owning the bookstore or actually any retail business is meeting all of the different people that come in and getting to talk with people, you know they come in from all over the world,” Says Blevins.
Whether it is looking for the local authors, bilingual children’s books, or Native American arts and crafts, people continue to visit Mesilla Book Center, just as they have been for the past 50 years.
