Lisa C. Uhrik

Lisa C. Uhrik is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Plenty Downtown Bookshop in Cookeville, Tennessee, which she opened with her husband, Dave, in 2022 to bring people together around books and reading. Lisa is also Co-Owner and CEO of Franklin Fixtures, a manufacturing company that creates displays for bookstores, libraries, and community spaces across America. Together, Plenty and Franklin have given Lisa a unique vantage point on the resurgence of independent bookshops and their power as social infrastructure, informing her exploration of how physical places can draw people toward books, toward one another, and into a stronger culture of reading.

Plenty Bookshop

Plenty Downtown Bookshop is a nonprofit community bookstore in Cookeville, Tennessee. Conceived as a living laboratory, Plenty explores how a bookshop can strengthen literacy, belonging, and connection, especially among people who may not consider themselves readers. Its programming extends beyond traditional bookselling to workshops, book clubs, family programs, and hundreds of community events each year in partnership with more than 20 local organizations, including schools and libraries.