Owners: DJ and Diane Palladino

1838 A Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara

The Mesa Bookstore on Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara is the smallest bookstore I have traveled to. Its 200 square foot frame is petite and packed with titles, just about every edge is fluttering with a book.

While the bookstore has been around for 28 years, DJ and Diane are recent owners, acquiring the store about three years ago. I had the pleasure of interviewing both Diane and DJ on separate occasions. It is the first time I have two versions of the same story to tell, which is almost more fun, especially after seeing how each story compliments the other, kind of like the couple themselves.

Long before DJ and Diane took over the bookstore, when it was still owned by Lisa and David Karys-Schiff, Diane was well-acquainted with the store. In addition to its location across the beach, there is also an elementary school next door, so Diane would pick up her son from school and walk to the bookstore. Diane and I agreed that while most kids might choose frozen yogurt as an after school treat, picking out a book is a much better option.

Fast forward to 2016 about two weeks after Diane had retired from teaching, and she received the phone call from her husband saying that The Mesa Bookstore was going out of business. Yet that wasn’t all. DJ also suggested that they buy the bookstore. DJ, who wrote for the Santa Barbara Independent for many years, heard about the bookstore at a lunch with a former colleague at the local newspaper. DJ said with humor and honesty that he was eager to get Diane out of the house so he could write and that she wanted him out of the house too. A couple more weeks went by and Diane was already tired of being retired so they “confessed to each other their alternative motives” and decided to buy the bookstore.

DJ admitted that they took the plunge because they loved the store and love books, not because they know anything about bookselling; they were also afraid someone else might buy it.  

DJ is a writer, as many great booksellers are. When I called him for the interview, the first thing he said was, “I don’t know what Diane said but she’s right,” which was even funnier in context of Diane’s interview. DJ and Diane have been married for 38 years and both claimed that they are very different people, a “ying and yang” dynamic. In the case of the bookstore, this is a special advantage as Diane curates the children’s books, science fiction, and young adult sections and DJ runs the other sections such as general fiction and poetry. The bookstore is also so small that they have to take turns running the shifts and appreciate the time they have alone in the shop.

Even though they had no previous bookselling experience, both DJ and Diane had worked in bookstores before.. DJ helped run a comic bookstore in the 80’s Andromeda and Osborne’s Books and Diane worked in a bookstore in San Diego.

They learned the trade with help of previous owners Linda and David and support from the local community and writers alike who wanted to keep the bookstore alive.

DJ’s novel “Nothing That Is Ours” which was 12  years in making, was officially released the same week as they re-opened the bookstore as new owners. It would be a strange coincidence, but Santa Barbara has a unique literary culture and history and Dj’s story fits in well.

Mesa Bookstore is a little bookstore with a large heart. As for their sections, they have a few treasures “built up by accident” in the rare book section. For the rest, 98% of the store is used books. Since the space is so limited, their selection is extremely well-curated and diverse. Both DJ and Diane are a pleasure to talk to, and an excellent source for book recommendations.

“Big reading adventures from a tiny bookstore…” 

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