Spotlight Books is a Black-owned, independent bookstore built to stimulate young minds, support critical thinking, and spur a lifelong passion for learning — with children's titles at the heart of it, and authors of color across every genre.
"The one thing that was missing was a bookstore." — Jennifer R. Farmer, Founder
When founder Jennifer R. Farmer was a child, Mount Vernon Avenue on Columbus' East Side was a hub for culture, connection, and community. Her family lived on Hallidon Avenue, off Trevitt Street, and short walks to the shops on Mount Vernon Avenue were sacred, safe, and adventurous — the hair salon, the corner store, the annual Homecoming celebration. A part-time job near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center later kept her close to the neighborhood.
What that neighborhood never had was a bookstore — a place to read books developed by, or catering to, people who looked like her. Even a bookstore outside her direct neighborhood would have been something to relish. Spotlight Books exists to give every child and young person on the Near East Side that experience.
Bookstores are often accessible in Columbus's higher-income neighborhoods, and rarer in working-class ones. Spotlight Books opens in Olde Towne East to change that.
A reading nook named after founder Jennifer's daughter, Maya — a soft landing spot for kids to open a book and lose track of time.
Coffee, tea, and baked goods, made to be enjoyed slowly, book in hand or in conversation with a neighbor.
Designed for tutoring and connection — the auntie-on-the-block energy, built into the floor plan.
Book Loft, Gramercy Books, Birdie Books, and Clintonville Books are all well loved — and all cluster in German Village, Bexley, Upper Arlington and Westerville, not the Near East Side. This Black-owned bookstore caters to children and youth on the Near East Side. Of course, everyone is welcome.
Farmer is an entrepreneur who values faith, community, and service. Since 2017, she has run Spotlight PR LLC, a social good public relations firm. The firm works with leaders and organizations committed to social good. It serves those who live to serve humanity by offering ghostwriting, media training, publicity, crisis communications and PR coaching.
Spotlight Books grew out of that same commitment: to offer insightful, culturally uplifting books that inspire curiosity and a passion for learning in young readers, right in the neighborhood that raised her.