Violet Volumes Kid’s Room

Hi! We are Skye and Whitney, the couple behind Violet Volumes. We are beyond excited to be bringing an independent bookstore to Teton Valley, Idaho! You can help us by donating money to make the children’s room happen. Our goal is to inspire the youth of Teton Valley to enjoy reading and create a welcoming place for them to explore the magic of books! We plan to offer weekly story times and book clubs for kids and teens.

Getting to this point has been a long and winding road. 4 years ago, Whitney was looking for the start of a new and fulfilling career. She decided to follow in her Mom's footsteps and go into education. She started working at Teton County School District in special education, as a math and reading intervention paraprofessional. Working with children and watching them grow and excel over the course of each school year brought Whit a sense of pride. Eventually she decided to go back to school and get her teaching degree. Whitney had found a way to give back to her community in a rewarding and meaningful way.

Unfortunately sometimes life has a way of derailing even the best laid and most well intentioned plans. On November 20th 2022, we were driving back from an early Thanksgiving family get together in Montana. While passing through Island Park, ID we were involved in a car accident. A large pickup truck backed out of a parking lot and hit the car we were traveling in. Whitney has been dealing with the aftermath of her injury ever since.

Whit has been diagnosed with a TBI and Post Concussive Syndrome. The last 18 months we have been to countless doctors appointments here in Jackson and down at the U of U at their Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital. Within that period she was forced to take an FMLA leave with the hopes of recovering and going back to the school district. However, many of her doctors agreed that she may never be able to work with children in a school setting without triggering symptoms. Even at their best kids are a lot of stimulus, and while Whitney loves working and being around them teaching, the daily migraines and frequent panic attacks were preventing both her and the kids from getting the best Whitney new she could provide. This ultimately lead to her leaving the district when her team of doctors did not clear her to return to working at a school.

We are both avid readers who were introduced to the wonderful power of books at an early age. When brainstorming what Whitney's next chapter might look like here in Teton Valley, we both agreed the slower pace of a book shop could very well be the perfect fit! The Valley has been without a book store since 2012. We feel this is an amazing opportunity for a new start for Whit. It will allow her to continue healing and simultaneously give back in a meaningful way to the community we love so much.

Despite the book industry being new to us, we both have extensive retail experience. Whit worked in returns in a camping store in her home town of Logan, Utah before moving to the valley to work as the National Museum of Wildlife Art Shop Supervisor. Skye has been in the ski industry for going on a decade. He first worked at Paragon Sports in New York City for 5 years eventually, becoming the head boot-fitter in their ski shop. He moved to Jackson to follow his dreams of powder and steeps and started to work at JH Sports in the village. He has been with the shop ever since and has worked in many facets of the retail operation there. Skye is currently the Retail Manager at the shop.

Donating to our gofundme would mean directly investing in a new resource for our community. Any donation, small or large, will let us build the best kids room we can. It will allow us to bring in more titles for the many broad interests of kids of all ages. Our goal is to become a community hub for all. Thanks a ton for supporting us in this journey!