About Us

No. 9 Books & Records started as just a little booth in an antique mall called Lil Bit Dis and Dat. The booth number was, you guessed it, 9. From this booth in downtown Ruston we sold a lot of books and records even though it was very small. 

However, the antique mall was closing so we decided to try and expand to an actual storefront. We found a space literally down the street owned by the artist Kit Gilbert. At first we were not sure we could afford it, but Kit really wanted a bookstore to open in Ruston and made us a deal. We signed the lease in 2018 and began to try and fill what seemed like an enormous empty space.

John and I carted books from the antique mall booth and brought our extra books and records from home. We built shelves and went to thrift stores and estate sales for furniture. Within about 4 months we were ready to open. 

We've been selling books and records ever since, even making deliveries during the pandemic shutdown.