I interviewed Mark Patrick Scotty, who works in a used bookshop named Turn The Page Again, located in Bayside Queens. He is an employment specialist for transitional services for New York’s ABI (Affirmative Business Initiative Program), where he helps people with mental health diagnoses gain work experience.
The store hires people with all kinds of mental health disorders, and their goal is to help them build work ethics/ skills that they may use in the real world. So while he trains and helps people with mental health disorders, he also works at the store, performing tasks he teaches to his employees. Whether it’s at the counter or stocking shelves, he is always at the front of the stores, ready to help whenever he is needed.
He takes the initiative in making sure customers are left satisfied with the shop's services. As it’s a used bookstore, they take precautions when accepting donations, and while it may not have some of the books customers come in looking for, they hold a large variety of books that they can choose from, all in good shape.
This shop is located on Bell Blvd, which is surrounded by many other shops, making this shop a quiet haven on the street. But also, being in a community like Bayside has helped Turn The Page Again build lasting relationships and trust with loyal customers who choose to shop there instead of big retail book sellers.
The shop is called Turn the Page Again, as it represents a new page for people who may not be given a chance anywhere else because of their mental disorders. And if that new page isn’t about the people who work there, it's about the people who come in looking for a book, hoping to find a new adventure beyond the pages.