[9] Columbus area author Hanif Abdurraqib has described the sense of getting lost in the store as a formative experience, saying "It was important to read my way out of that maze... By the time I exited The Book Loft, I was able to imagine a different and better world than the one that I'd entered.

[6][12] Living quarters were located on the second floor of what was known as the Substantial Building, which would go on to serve as a church, a decorating company, an art studio and school, and an indoor golf course.

[12] She also bought the adjacent building at 632 City Park, which had opened as Wolf Tavern in the nineteenth century and through the years had served as a series of small groceries.

[12] Former teachers Carl Jacobsma and Roger Tompkins owned a gift shop in the mid-1970s, and in 1977 Marnie Southard asked them to join her in a retail venture.

[13] The Book Loft struggled with tight finances due to the rise of Internet retailers in the late 2000s;[13] since the mid-2010s, the business has recovered financially.