Dawn Treader’s Africa Shaumann
Africa Schaumann is the manager of Dawn Treader Book Shop, a local institution in its 40+ years in Ann Arbor’s book community. She took the helm shortly after the unexpected passing of the previous manager, Corby Gillmore in 2018. Originally from Ypsilanti, she attended college in North Carolina where she studied history, specifically race relations in the United States between 1890-1965. Africa has worked in libraries and bookstores, and is trained in archival book bindery, preservation, and conservation.
In her role as manager, she strives to create an environment that is both welcoming and safe to its diverse array of patrons. Her favorite part about being a bookseller is the exchange of knowledge that goes along with selling books in a college town. She learns as much from patrons as they learn from the books they purchase.
You can often find her reading about history. Although she enjoys anything historical, she especially enjoys the Golden Age of Piracy, the Jazz Age, and the Civil Rights and Reconstruction Eras. Her primary hobby is reading and selling books, so it’s safe to say that she has found the rare and elusive dream career in managing a used bookstore. During non-pandemic times, you could find her spending an evening at an A2SO or UMS event, watching black-and-white films at Michigan and State Theaters, or walking one of the many museums around campus.
The best way to support Dawn Treader during the pandemic is to browse and purchase in-store (given that you have no symptoms of COVID-19), donate to their ongoing GoFundMe, and/or purchase a gift certificate at shop.dawntreaderbooks.com. Browsing hours are currently Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 8 pm.
Five books Africa is currently reading/recently read:
Featured in November 2020