Turning the page

certainly precludes the ability to move municipal funds among banks,” Noonan told the Marblehead Current. “However, the town’s finance department has been beleaguered for years with many challenges. Chronic underfunding has resulted in an understaffed department with obsolete technology and the inability to reconcile cash, accounts receivables, payroll, etc., in a timely manner.” She added, “This has also

Local women plan to write next chapter for town bookstores

BY KRIS OLSON

Marblehead may be slightly behind the trend that has brought a renaissance of independent bookstores to the local retail landscape. But thanks to two determined local women, the town is poised to catch up quickly.

Laura Cooper, the former owner and proprietor of the flower shop Aster, will once again have a storefront in Marblehead’s historic downtown at 134 Washington St. with the Saltwater Bookstore.

Meanwhile, another local woman, Tracy Lessor, has decided to walk away from the corporate world and pursue what she said has been her dream since high school. Little Harbor Books is still in the planning stages, including the hunt for an ideal location, she told the Current.

Cooper says her vision for her small boutique bookstore is that it will be “thoughtfully designed, carefully curated and community based — a place people will want to return, again and again.”

“I’m passionate about books, and I’m looking forward to interacting with others — of all ages — who love to read as well,” she said.

Like many, Cooper said she has been inspired by the resurgence of