Ridgefield’s beloved independent bookstore, Books on the Common, celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. Ellen Burns and Darwin Ellis, who are married and who run the shop together, have owned the store for the last 20 years.
The story of Books on the Common began in 1984, when Bob and Sally Silbernagel first opened in the brand-new Copps Hill Common (now The Marketplace) on Danbury Road. While it was the Silbernagels’ life-long dream to run a bookstore, Burns and Ellis came by their ownership rather circuitously.
Ellis has a PhD in Physics and worked at Schlumberger (now SLB), in Ridgefield, and Burns was a CPA (Silbernagel was her tax client). They were devoted customers of the store, and when Ellis’ company relocated to Massachusetts in 2004, the couple decided to buy the bookstore and begin their Second Act—this time as small business owners.
Books on the Common is a magical place. It has everything you could ever want in a charming bookstore—shelves overflowing with stacks of books, cozy nooks and crannies with chairs to sit and browse through pages, sweet, seasonal decorations and book displays. Even the creaky wood floor sounds delightful underfoot while you meander through the aisles, searching for your next read.
The space Books on the Common now inhabits is so quintessentially a bookstore, it’s impossible to imagine this location ever being anything else. Alas, the store didn’t open on Main Street until 2009. “When this space became available, we jumped on it because it’s really important to have foot traffic in any retail business—but particularly in the book business,” Burns tells us.
While the music industry has had to endure many iterations in the last century (records, cassettes, CDs, MP3s, and now digital)—books hadn’t significantly evolved since the printing press was invented. Then, in 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle—and with it, eBooks. Independent bookstores, which were already teetering after the rise of box stores like Borders and Barnes & Noble, shuttered their doors in droves. Physical book sales plummeted…but Books on the Common persevered.
Burns, chuckling wryly, says, “The ever-brilliant Bezos said this was going to be the end of the printed book. He may have been right about a lot of things, but he wasn’t right about that!” She continues, “People want to read real books. Kids want to read real books, teenagers want to read real books.” And publishers, to the delight of independent booksellers, are producing stunning statement pieces that demand to be bought, read, and displayed.
Case in point? Emily Henry’s bestselling novel, Beach Read. Four years after debuting in paperback, Penguin Random House rereleased the book as a hardcover Deluxe Edition, with a shimmering, gold foil stamped cover, sunset sky art endpapers, and sprayed edges.
Offering further proof of print’s resurgence, Burns references an article she recently read in the New York Times. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, made moves into digital publishing last year. Now their publishing imprint, 8th Note Press—which focuses on genres popular on BookTok (romantasy, young adult fiction, and romance)—has announced they will begin printing physical books. Burns says, “The fact is that physical books are still with us, and will be with us for a long time, in my opinion.”
Audiobooks have surged in popularity in recent years, and you may not know this, but there is an alternative to Audible—one that supports independent bookstores. Burns explains that Libro.fm (which is both the name of the company and their URL, so streamlined of them), was founded in 2024 as a means of letting customers purchase audiobooks and still support their favorite independent bookstores. When you visit Libro.fm, you can select Books on the Common as your preferred store, and they will get a portion of the sales.
In addition to a dedicated staff of six (plus two high school students) who are brimming with book recommendations, the incomparable coziness and warm atmosphere the store exudes, and its convenient location (you can’t buy a last minute gift online), Books on the Common also offers various rewards programs.
First is their Frequent Buyers Club program for kids and young adult books. Burns explains, “For every ten books you purchase, you get credit for the average of what you purchased against anything in the store.” Next is their Book Club program. “When you register your book club, we order the books, put them on the book club shelf, people can come in and buy them and get a 15% discount.” Finally, they participate in the Gold Card program in town. Residents who are 65 and over can bring their license to Town Hall where they will receive a complimentary Gold Card. This card can be presented at various businesses around town for a discount.
In addition to their rewards programs, Books on the Common partners with the library to host author events. Jean Hanff Korelitz, author of The Plot and the newly released, very appropriately named The Sequel, will be in town for an event on January 16th at 7 p.m at the library. And another bestselling author, Fiona Davis, will visit Ridgefield in April.
This independent bookstore is more than just a bookstore. Burns and Ellis have done so much in service of our community. Burns felt there should be a Ridgefield visitor’s map available for free in stores, so she took it upon herself to commission one.
Then, a handful of years ago, Burns was chatting with a friend who lived in Western Massachusetts. Her friend told her how Great Barrington was designated as a cultural district. She thought, "Oh that's interesting, we have a lot of arts and culture in Ridgefield. I wonder if Connecticut has such a designation.'
Connecticut did not. So Burns reached out to John Frey, who was a state representative at the time, and he drafted the law. The Economic & Community Development Commission brought Burns’ idea to fruition. The Ridgefield Cultural District was the very first in the state of Connecticut, established in 2021.
Books on the Common will be open for the Holiday Stroll on Friday, December 6th. Burns tells us they do 30-35% of their annual sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And while surrounding shops may duck out early on Christmas Eve, they remain open (relatively) late. “Christmas Eve is so much fun. We always stay open until 5 o’clock, or until the last procrastinator leaves,” she laughs. And, bonus alert, “We gift wrap!”
They have a gift for everyone on your holiday shopping list. The latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid for your 3rd grader. Usborne mess free painting books for your niece. Ina Garten’s new memoir for the epicurean in your life. Cookbooks, travel guides, scarves printed with text from beloved books for the bibliophile in your life. And if you simply can’t choose, they offer beautiful gift certificates in any amount.
Ridgefield is so lucky to have Burns and Ellis at the helm of our town’s delightful bookstore, and the feeling is mutual. “We’re really grateful to the community of Ridgefield and the surrounding towns that have continued to support an independent bookstore for 40 years. We hope to keep it going for a long time.” We hope so too.
Physical books are still with us, and will be with us for a long time.