BookMan/BookWoman was established because the owners needed a place to house their extensive collection of books. There was no more room at home. Larry and Saralee Woods always visited used bookstores wherever they traveled and began to dream of opening one of their own in Nashville.

Saralee left her job in the corporate world and began to use her award-winning sales techniques to market the store. The original store was named BookMan with the logo “Selling My Husband’s Books.” A store location was discovered in Hillsboro Village, Nashville’s friendliest and premier shopping district. Saralee and Larry set a goal of maintaining the friendliest bookstore around.

BookMan opened following Nashville’s famous Southern Festival of Books. People lined up around the block for a chance to buy some of the owner’s valuable first editions. Saralee priced everything half price; book collectors from around the world were ecstatic at the bargains offered that first week of BookMan. Word spread quickly that Saralee was building a monument to Larry’s well-known addiction for acquiring books.

On Easter Sunday two years later, BookMan moved across the street to its current location. Volunteers arrived before dawn that morning and helped move thousands of books to BookMan’s new home. The next year, BookMan’s size doubled when it expanded into the space next door and became BookMan/BookWoman. The new BookWoman section houses many categories, including women’s studies.

Today, BookMan/BookWoman is proud to have been voted Nashville’s Best Used Bookstore by readers of the Nashville Scene and Nashville Woman. Not only is BookMan/BookWoman Nashville’s Best Used Bookstore, it continues true to its goal of being Nashville’s friendliest bookstore.