It Started With a Spreadsheet That Wouldn't Stop Growing
In 2019, our founders Mara and Desmond started tracking book recommendations for friends in a shared spreadsheet. Within eight months, strangers were asking to be added to the list. When they realized people would actually pay for a curator's judgment, they built Reader's Terminal.
What began as a favor between friends quickly grew into something bigger. Book clubs wanted shelves. Then coworkers of book club members. Then readers from across the country who'd heard about the "person who always knows what to read next" and wanted in.
Today, Reader's Terminal is a small, dedicated Reading Room of former librarians, booksellers, and stubbornly voracious readers — all united by the belief that a good recommendation is worth more than an infinite scroll of five-star ratings.
