Around Indie Bookstores

MashUp Video Features Fountain Bookstore Owner on IndieBound

MashUp, a thrice-weekly video webcast on the latest art, music, events, and culture in Richmond, Virginia, this week featured Kelly Justice of The Fountain Bookstore discussing IndieBound and the benefits of shopping locally.

About midway through the six-minute September 23 installment, Justice talks to MashUp's hosts about IndieBound.org and tells viewers: "If you've got a favorite independent business, we want to know about it." She also explains," I love my town ... I want to see Richmond, stay Richmond." Chains are responsible to shareholders, Justice adds, "I'm responsible to you."

Visit inRich.com and click on MashUp, September 23, to see the full webcast.

Bienville Books Opens Haunted Book Loft

Last week, Mobile, Alabama's Bienville Books opened its new Haunted Book Loft, an upstairs space, which more than doubled the store's original 700 square feet. Owner Russ Adams said that, despite some water damage from Hurricane Gustav, the new space is now packed with horror, science fiction and fantasy, and a variety of nonfiction. The area also features a haunted bookshelf and a growling plant, and more surprises are planned.

Bienville Books will be hosting an open house for Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance trade show participants and selected guests on Thursday, September 25, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Haunted Book Loft is named in honor of a former downtown Mobile landmark, The Haunted Book Shop, which sold new and used books from 1941 to 1991. An exhibit of the store's memorabilia will be showcased at the space's entrance.

Bienville Books and its new Haunted Book Loft were recently featured in a segment on Mobile's WKRG News.

Aaron's Books Partners With Library for Reading Week

Aaron's Books owners Aaron, Sam and Todd Dickinson (l to r)

Aaron's Books in Lititz, Pennsylvania, has announced that it's teaming up with the Lititz Public Library to sponsor the first "Lititz Loves Reading" week. Events from October 20 - 26 include author appearances, library fundraisers, and an all-night "Read-a-Thon."

Happenings at Aaron's include a discussion of the Lititz One Book One Community selection, The Grace That Keeps This World by Tom Bailey (Three Rivers), and an appearance by local author Jill Althouse-Wood (Summers at Blue Lake, Algonquin). The weeklong celebration culminates in a Read-a-Thon on October 25. Customers are invited to start their reading beginning anytime during the day on Saturday and stay for a night of activities, including a screening of the new PBS documentary Paperback Dreams and an "open mike" poetry slam.

"Lititz Loves Reading" week is inspired by a national program, Great Expectations 2008, founded by RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For the week, Aaron's customers will be able to support the mission of Lititz Public Library in two ways. First, for any customer presenting a Lititz library card while shopping at Aaron's Books, 10 percent of the purchase price will be donated to the library. Second, the library is supplying Aaron's Books with a "wish list" of most wanted books, and supporters can buy a book for the library through Aaron's Books at 25 percent below retail price.

BookStacks: Anchoring Bucksport, Maine's Downtown

Andy Lacher and BookStacks are featured in an October Down East article on the reimagining of Bucksport, Maine. Eleven years after he opened the store, the magazine said, "Lacher's shop anchors Bucksport's single-street downtown. Even on a quiet Thursday morning a steady stream of people come in for newspapers, books, fresh coffee, and company."

Lacher told Down East that he did his homework, before opening BookStacks. "Bucksport may be small, but it sits in the middle of this entire region between Belfast and Ellsworth," he said. "It was obvious this would work."

The magazine noted, however, that, "although the town's population has remained stable at about five thousand, it's not the same five thousand it was 10 or 15 years ago." Mill workers have been replaced by retirees, vacationers, and newcomers attracted by the town's services. "There's this perception that we're still a mill town," Lacher told Down East. "That's wrong. These days, we're a town that happens to have a mill in it -- and a lot more."