“Don’t forget to tell your friends about us,” Hays says as he stands behind the cash register. With a smile on his face, he thanks the two customers as they leave the bookstore. While the customers probably thought little of this exchange, Hays appreciates every customer.

Using his own system, Hays organizes his books in a way that only someone with a passion for what they are doing could. “It’s taken me about a month but I am almost completely done organizing the section over there on Japan,” he points to possibly the smallest column in the entire store.

The Book Mine, sits on the corner of Gaines and Gay Street. From the outside, it looks like a giant tin shed or even an abandoned warehouse; It's passed by students on their way to school every day. But Hays doesn’t let the lack of attention bother him. “Money was never a true concern of mine. Of course you’ve got to pay the bills but you also have to make sure you are not doing a disservice to yourself,” Hays explains as he thumbs through a book on the Renaissance.

Hays explains that he fell in love with reading at an early age, reading anything he could get his hands on. His father introduced him to what would remain his favorite piece of writing to this day: the Bible. “It is the book I go back to when I am ever feeling unsure or doubtful in my own capabilities and strengths. It gives me guidance.”

He later went on to being a professor, teaching everywhere from Broward Community College in Pembroke Pines to Florida State University. “I always tried to be the teacher that would help people. ‘Wow, that really made sense to me. That person helped me understand that learning and studying is really useful.’ I think a bookstore is just an extension of that.” Hays explained that he felt more accomplished by providing people with the books they were genuinely interested in reading than when he was teaching a classroom full of students a subject they had no interest in.

Through each of the moves that led Hays to Tallahassee the thing he made sure to never lose in transition were his books. Eventually, Hays had accumulated a collection big enough to drive his wife crazy. She suggested two options: donate them or to start a bookstore of his own. When his oldest daughter, Alexandra, was considering applying to medical school she was hesitant because of the expenses but Hays made a deal with her: If she got into medical school, he would open up a bookstore to help pay for the tuition. When she got accepted to medical school and he kept true to his promise. “Three years later I haven’t been able to help her out much because I haven’t made much money at this but I started doing this and I love it,” he said as he looks around at his cluttered store with pride.

The Book Mine built from there into a whole family affair. His son comes to help him right after school every day. “I don’t know what I would do without him.” While most high school students can hardly find the time to juggle school and clubs, Hays' son would go directly from school to the store to work from 3 to 7 p.m.

While more income would allow him to hire extra help, Hays says without hesitation that has never been his goal in life. "’Happiness is that which is pursued for no other end than itself.’ And I am seeking happiness in my life,” Hays says quoting Aristotle. Hays compares himself to Galileo in the way he is voyaging while just looking out into the dark sky and trying to figure it out. He clarifies that he isn't in the dark because his life is unhappy; Most people are in dark because they let meaningless things get in the way of their happiness. “Often we let social norms impair our judgment and religious acceptances shape our beliefs. I think that is my biggest obstacle on my pursuit of happiness.”