Mt. Cloud: How A Hidden Little Bookshop Became a Baguio Icon
They don't just sell books. They love books.
(SPOT.ph) Independent bookstore, Mt. Cloud, has created a way of life for lovers of books and literature in Baguio City.
Looking back, Padmapani “Padma” Perez admits her dream those years ago to set up a bookshop had sometimes become a recurring nightmare, a roller-coaster ride with threats of being formed only to close after the critical third year. But here is that dream now: thriving and celebrating its 14th anniversary.
“I feel that we have created a space to gather people, our events have created a sense of community, we feel that we are part of something collaborative,” Padma offers sheepishly, remembering the early days of the shop with her sister Feliz with whom she started it.
The next step for Mt. Cloud
In 2010, the shelves of Mt. Cloud only had close to 100 titles— merchandise was so scarce they had to display the books cover out to mask the sorry number of what they had on hand. Fast forward to today when it can boast of having over 3,000 titles and a distinguished line of regional reads plus books by local authors that could rival the shelves of any bookstore franchise.
"We have proven that Filipinos do know how to read and there we have claimed our space in Baguio city, where we belong," Padma shares.
In the eve of its anniversary, a cavalcade of writers, poets and a good amount of scattered Gen Z, Xers, Millennials and Boomers gathered to pay homage to a small bookshop that has become a pulse point for the Baguio community, and later cheered at the prospect of having a local publishing house in the mountain city.
Padma made a call for submissions for their first jab at publishing: a Mt. Cloud anthology about readers and reading, which will undergo a screening and editing process by the end of the year. “Let’s call it our experiment in publishing,” says Padma, adding that the pilot project is still being finalized in time for 2025, their 15th year.
Padma has been keen on industry shifts and observes the stigma of self-publishing has been lifted, giving new life to authors who want to impart their narratives, graduating from vanity press to relevant manuscripts which the public must consume. ‘’The books and stories are getting more diverse; authors are getting more control over their books, with small publishers making a strong political stance which is really not possible for big publishing houses.”
Diverse range of titles
Mt. Cloud takes pride in the diverse range of titles on their shelves and having a well-stocked Cordillera and Ilokano section. They carry political titles without the fear of being flagged for carrying critical reads (in the shop, it's in a section lovingly labeled “Lessons Not Learned”). It has also allowed beginning writers to find their space in Mt. Cloud's shelves (in a section dubbed as “Kiss my Poet”) giving importance to quality of text and not discriminating by author.
Apart from its books, Mt. Cloud has been known to host activities, from its poetry nights backed by the Baguio Writers Group—dubbed as the “Third Monday from the Sun” which has surprisingly grown in following—where poets and those struggling with their stanzas come together for an evening of reading and re-reading, to its latest event called “Free Market," which gives space to those who want to give, take or barter unused items, creating yet again a classic gathering of odds and ends free for the taking.
Anticipated author talks and book launchings give writers and readers a chance to meet and exchange ideas, and they are always fully packed. They are calendared along with the bookshop's now famous anniversary scavenger hunt. The hunt involves the entire city, with earmarked establishments participating in the booklovers sleuth quest.
If the shelves of Mt. Cloud are something to brag about, their collection of crafts is another story. The curated items the store carries are thoughtfully handmade, ranging from bottle tops, hand painted greeting cards, bookmarks, a carefully crafted journal cover to film prints and t-shirts made by well-known to the most obscure of creatives.
Meet the team
The small but capable team behind Mt. Cloud is in fact composed of its earliest fans, a happy bunch of starstruck kids who grew up and ended up working for the bookstore they fangirled about in their youth.
Maddie Castillo remembers arriving from the province and going straight to Mt. Cloud instead of her dorm. She now heads marketing, public relations and business development at the bookshop and shares that to be able to be effective in her job, one has to live the cliché of really reading and loving books—because people will ask you what book to read or what a random book is about, she shares.
Tin Garcia who handles social media says the audience attracted to the highland bookshop is a mix of all ages, as seen in the events they host—the bookshop's charm does not discriminate. Audrey Balagot who is in charge of inventory, meanwhile, reveals that she knows by heart the roster of authors, genres, publishers they carry, as well as where exactly to place the books in order to respond to the habits of book hunters.
Aside from a publishing house, Castillo says an "Idea Hub” is also set to open in the shop, envisioned to become an area for more crafts as well as an open space to host meetings, workshop and seminars, giving another platform for collaboration to flourish.
The decision to open a bookshop once laid heavily on the Perez siblings. But they now have become the keepers of a unique home, and allowing everyone into their abode of ideas and stories has spoken volumes of their hospitality and love for community. Most importantly, on their 14th year, Mt. Cloud takes pride in its one true achievement: proving wrong the many who underestimated the love of Filipinos for books, reading and discourse.
Photographs by Gari Buenavista. Mt. Cloud is located at 1 Yangco corner Brent Road, Baguio City. For more information, visit their Instagram.