Bookends: weathering storms, creating communities

Passion is such an overused word, don’t you think? Many people claim to be passionate about their work, but it’s only when you meet someone who gives everything to their job that you really understand what it means. Enter entrepreneur, teacher, writer, student and mum, Grace Karim, whose love of reading and learning inspired her to launch ‘Bookends’ with her good friend Somia Anwar, buying and selling pre-loved books all over the UAE.

“I am on the road at 6am,” says Grace with a broad smile. “Driving my kids to school takes two hours, and then on to the office.” She makes the same journey at the end of the working day, but no time is wasted, as she uses it to learn, listening to dozens of podcasts and lectures, all relevant to her extraordinarily busy life. Grace keeps a huge number of plates spinning, but Bookends has by far been the most challenging in the few years of its existence.

It was born because Grace and Somia’s children, like their mothers, are avid readers. “And books in the UAE are very expensive!” says Grace. “Whenever we were shopping, the children would buy a book, and it would be read before we arrived home. So, we used to swap.” With children’s books costing anything from AED 45 to 60 (around €11-15), both Grace and Somia could see what a problem this could be for parents. And they had a great idea to help.

When a business incubator in their home city of Sharjah opened a competition for tech entrepreneurs in the publishing space, Grace knew their chance had come to turn Bookends from an idea into a reality. The third prize of AED 25,000 brought their online store to life in January 2020, launching from a room in Grace’s house that’s also a playroom and where she teaches languages. “The everything room,” she laughs.

The page-turning pandemic

But 2020 was, as we well know, an unprecedented year. And when the world locked down, many turned to the comfort of books as an escape from the endless screens, as well as their anxieties. “People were coming to my house to give me books, which we would put on the website and give them credit to buy more,” Grace recalls. “This was all happening in my garden – we literally sanitised every single book before shipping.” Their pre-loved prices helped Bookends to quickly grow and, before long, Grace and Somia moved into a dedicated space. But customers’ repeated calls for a physical store led them to open their shop in 2023.

Of course, Grace wouldn’t be Grace if she wasn’t also grabbing every opportunity to learn and grow with both hands, so during this time of incredible activity she was also teaching, parenting and seeking new ideas. Which was how she came across Canon Middle East’s Women Who Empower programme through the Dubai Business Women Council. Initially, Grace was looking to take part to grow her content creation skills and learn more about how to use photography and videography to tell the story of Bookends, but as it turned out, she gained so much more.

Finding community in a crisis

“The books were submerged. Somia and I sat on the escalator, looking at the water, and did not know how we would ever survive this.” Only a year after opening, their beloved bookshop was flooded, destroying around 14,000 books and all the beautiful décor that they’d so lovingly curated. “So much ruined, in the blink of an eye,” sighs Grace. Mosquitos were gathering by the time the water was pumped from the store, but action soon replaced despair when they posted about the disaster on social media. “Then people began to flow. How can we help? We want to give you a hand!” Friends, family and their new Canon community – including children – jumped in to recover the store from flood. “So many volunteers! Entire families and their kids, many with laptops to catalogue our stock, so that we could update the website.”

Extraordinarily, it only took two weeks for Bookends to come back online, thanks to the incredible show of support from their new community. And even though Grace was forced to take a temporary hiatus from Women Who Empower to deal with the crisis, her tutor provided one-to-one sessions to ensure she still had the full benefit of the programme. On graduation day, she was astonished to be presented with a Canon PIXMA G3430 Printer . It was not only an honour and touching gift, recognising Grace and Somia’s achievements, but it has allowed them to expand their product offering to bookmarks and create personalised customer communications. “The printer makes it easier for us to create such products. And every time I look at it, I say, thank you,” says Grace.

“One hand doesn’t clap”

Building and maintaining their community and partnerships takes time and effort, but they are central to the success of a business built on passion. For example, Bookends operate a ‘bring a bookshelf’ scheme with a number of hotels, coffee shops and businesses – Canon’s Dubai office included – where they manage a mini library for employees. They also help a number of local charities to monetise donations through the Bookends store.

The business continues to grow – despite a pandemic and floods – showing no sign of slowing down. Much like Grace, in fact, who has decided that 2025 is the year to begin her PhD. It is at this point one must seriously wonder whether she sleeps. “If you have the passion, you will find the time,” she laughs. And both Grace and Somia have passion in abundance.

Learn more about the Canon Middle East Women Who Empower programme.