A teenage girl from Palmerston North has opened her own bookstore in the hopes it’ll encourage more people to read.
Pari Rao, 15, has spent months turning her dream into a reality and this weekend is her first of business.
A wide range of customers was browsing the books at Olive Books in The Square, taking a closer look and spying a captivating cover in Rao's new second-hand bookstore.
"I just want people to realise that reading can be fun and it doesn't have to be expensive as well," Pari told Newshub.
She's worried people are reading less because of social media.
"Everyone's attention spans are reducing which makes it harder to read a book and we all need to start reading books again and almost re-train our minds to start soaking more information in," she said.
The business is a real family affair that has taken six months to get off the ground.
"She's needed my help for anything like signatures and bank accounts, everything else it's really been her," Roa's mother Vasudha Rao told Newshub.
"It's been awesome just watching from the sidelines and going, she's 15,"
Vasudha said, adding she was "super proud" of her daughter.
Pari said she'll be in the bookshop in the holidays and "every time I don't have school but other than that my grandad will be running the store".
All of the books and furniture have been donated, so the entire business has only cost about $2000 to set up.
"The whole community has been really receptive to this idea," Pari said.
And the idea is really hitting the plot.
"I just love to thumb through the pages and smell the books," one customer said while another added, "I love books and there are some good ones here for sure".
A love Pari wants more people to feel.
