Author: Grace Li
In this Student Spotlight Series installment, we interviewed Victoria, the founder of LEXI Bookstore, a youth-led business dedicated to making reading more accessible, personal, and free. By curating personalized book recommendations, LEXI Bookstore hopes to make reading a healthier alternative to screens, for youth.
Q1. Please introduce yourself and the mission of LEXI Bookstore.
My name is Victoria Baek and I study Creative Writing at an arts school. LEXI Bookstore is a community-centered student-led business designed to bring back the lost art of reading. We offer personalized book matchings to show how literature can become a healthy alternative to screens. Through our curated approach, we hope to rebuild attention spans, foster literary curiosity and offer a cognitive safe-space from digital overstimulation.
Q2. What inspired you to start LEXI Bookstore as a student-run bookstore?
In an age dominated by screens, reading for pleasure has become increasingly rare. Gen Z faces unique challenges: 35% of K-12 students report disliking reading and 43% say they rarely or never read for fun. Books which were once a gateway to critical thinking and imagination have been replaced by Tiktok, Instagram and bite-sized content. Passively watching video summaries lets you get the gist of a book, but all the thinking is done for you and you miss the opportunity to be creative. Last year in 2025, I got together with peers who shared the same love and passion for reading to create this student-led bookstore.
Q3. What kinds of books or literary experiences do you most enjoy featuring on your Instagram feed, and how do you decide what to showcase?
On our Instagram feed, we usually feature books that we believe hold important lessons. Overly cheesy romance novels with no substance or books with blocks of text written in old Shakespearean English are books we usually stray away from. If we are going to be convincing with our mission, our best bet is to appeal to our audience of young adolescents.
Q4. What impact do you hope LEXI Bookstore has on students or young readers following you?
To realize the art of reading. We hope to reshape how younger generations think of books and literature. At school, we are taught to read for homework or a grade, but if read for leisure, books can rebuild attention spans and imagination. When people read, they learn to think for themselves.
Q5. What books have influenced you most as a curator, creator, and reader, and how has it impacted how you lead LEXI Bookstore?
Tuesdays with Morrie, Devotions (Mary Oliver), The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and The Things They Carried are only a few that I always keep on my bookshelf. These books each teach a lesson about different aspects of life: Morrie teaches about human relationships, Devotions about revering the ordinary, Franklin stands as a paragon of self-determination and self-actualization, and The Things They Carried discusses the emotional weight and burdens people avoid telling others about. These books impacted how I lead LEXI Bookstore by changing my character as I continue to learn and grow the business with maturity.
Biggest thank you to LEXI Bookstore for having this interview with us! Please check out their work here: www.lexibooks.store
The Megaphone 