Located in quaint downtown Half Moon Bay, Ink Spell Books is an independently-owned bookstore that opened in 2007. Selling a variety of both new and used books, the store boasts a vibrant children’s section and offers many high school reading classics.
Owner Cindi Wittmore began her bookstore journey over two decades ago at Barnes and Noble. Wittmore said, “I used to do community relations with them, getting books out to the public and such.” She described her frustration working for a large company, remembering, “They would tell us that all of the books on one shelf had to be about snow, even though we were in an area that didn’t get any snow and no one would buy them—everything had to be exactly the same.” At that point, Wittmore and her friend, who no longer works at Ink Spell, decided to open up their own bookstore when a space opened up in Half Moon Bay.
Ink Spell Books is a new and used bookstore, so they take in books that are in relatively good condition and resell them. For Wittmore, this means that she never has to give up on a book. “I like it when the books still have life in them—where we can give them new homes, especially to children who might not otherwise have a chance to really own a book,” she said. “Books were an escape as a child. I want to send everyone else on that journey too.”
The unique name came from a friend’s idea. Wittmore said, “The bookstore was this close to being called Foggy Corners because all the other bookstores in Half Moon Bay were named after the landscape, like oceans or harbors.” Her friends and her were sitting around and debating names when someone suggested books that can take you to fantastical places. From there, Wittmore said, “We were thinking about how the spell of books takes to you these magical places, and what’s in books? Ink.” Thus, Ink Spell Books was born.
After waiting sixteen years for a spot on the famous Main Street of Half Moon Bay, a spot finally opened up and Wittmore and her staff moved there last year. After owning Ink Spell for more than a decade, Wittmore still finds joy in making sure every kid has a book that’s theirs. “Books let them go on this journey and they still remember that journey ten, twenty years later, and they can then give that gift to their own kids.” The bookstore runs a program called Big Lift, which gives a free book to every kindergartener, and it goes up to 3rd grade. Wittmore said, “There’s something really important about being able to say that’s my book, and I can read it over and over again, I don’t have to return it, you know?”
Wittmore also mentioned the banned books movement, something that has been gaining traction in recent years, and has become explicitly tied to politics. “It’s important for everything to be available, and to let people decide what they want to read, and that goes for kids as well.” Places like Ink Spell, as well as public libraries, help provide that space for local communities so that they can flourish. Reading is such an important skill, and there’s no better way to strengthen that than to visit your local independent bookstore or library. The next time you happen to find yourself in downtown Half Moon Bay, give Ink Spell books a visit—I promise that you’ll find something to get lost in—whether that’s the next beach read, a late-night thriller, or your summer reading assignment.
