More than a Bookstore

Growing up half a block from Luther, Kate (Nelson) Rattenborg Scott’s local bookstore was the one on campus. “I would go there to spend my hard-earned money from a paper route or babysitting on paperbacks,” she says.

She graduated from Luther as an English major, and for two decades, she deepened her relationship with the written word through work as an academic librarian.

Kate (Nelson) Rattenborg Scott ’83

After the unexpected death of her first husband, Kate returned to Decorah with her two teenaged daughters. In September 2010, working as a financial advisor at Thrivent, she was helping train new financial associates in Cedar Rapids when the question of “Where do you see yourself in five years?” was turned on her.

“I started talking about how I wanted to open a bookstore,” she says. Her whimsical answer took root on the drive home. In February 2011, she officially launched Dragonfly Books in downtown Decorah.

It’s a highly compressed timeline for such a big venture, but Kate drew on skills she’d spent a lifetime developing. Her library work had given her experience in acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, reader interest, and computer systems, while her work with Thrivent helped her understand the financial implications. Plus, she says, “That liberal arts background from Luther gave me a solid foundation to open a business. I had taken some accounting and business courses that really, truly held me in good stead.

Something for Everyone

In stocking the shelves at Dragonfly, Kate says, “We look for what’s important in our community.” In addition to best-sellers, the store emphasizes books on the environment, sustainability, healthy living, intellectual well-­being, education, and Scandinavian literature in translation. Kate makes an effort to carry a diversity of voices and, she says, “Coming from my library background is a real concern about freedom of speech, freedom to read, and censorship.” So the store also commits to keeping challenged books on the shelves.

Over the years, Kate’s been approached to branch out to other towns. “It’s a compliment,” she says, “but what works about Dragonfly is that I’m a member of this community.” The venture succeeds in part because Kate knows and loves Decorah. She doesn’t think it would work in a town in which she wasn’t embedded.

She did say yes, though, to acquiring a Christian bookstore in Decorah, also on Water Street, in 2019. Kate sees the Silver Birch (formerly the Master’s Touch) as a good complement to Dragonfly. “Dragonfly probably leans a little left of center, while the Silver Birch leans a bit right,” she says. “That’s intentional. It’s nice to be something for everyone.”

Silver Birch has turned out to be really special in a different way. “It’s a place where you see somebody at important touchpoints of their life,” Kate says. “Whether it’s a baptism, first communion, confirmation, wedding, anniversary, death, or memorial—the products we sell there are from birth to death. My staff there almost do a ministry.”

Kate (Nelson) Rattenborg Scott ’83 (center) with her daughters, who help run Dragonfly Books in downtown Decorah

More than Retail

About five years ago, a private foundation that saw the value of independent bookstores approached Kate about investing in Dragonfly as a place to build community, provide regional education, and support emerging authors through book events. This funding established the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, which has allowed Kate to turn the apartment above Dragonfly into lodging for visiting authors. In 2025, Kate and her team hosted about 80 author and community events.

The Oneota Valley Literary Foundation also donates books to students through regional schools, public libraries, and museums, through Helping Services for Youth and Families, and through the Decorah Community Food Pantry, among other outlets. In this way, it’s sparking conversations, expanding minds, and building regional readers not just through retail, but through thoughtful programming and philanthropy.

In February, Dragonfly celebrates 15 years of operation, and Kate feels the time is right to pass the torch to her adult daughters, who’ve been working alongside her. They seem very well poised to continue her legacy. When USA Today profiled Dragonfly in July, daughter Sarah Krammen said that when you shop at Dragonfly, “You’re doing more than just buying a book—you’re helping to build a vibrant and connected community.”