Around Indies

Bookseller Launches Fundraiser to Buy Learned Owl

After running The Learned Owl Book Shop for 29 years, owner Liz Murphy has decided it is time to pass the torch.  She put the store on the market in April and is currently interviewing people interested in “adopting” the bookstore and carrying on the legacy she has built.

Kate Schlademan, who has been the store’s events coordinator for two years, hopes to be that person. She has turned to crowd-funding site Indiegogo in the hopes of raising enough cash to secure a business loan to purchase the bookstore.

With several years of bookselling and teaching experience, “I believe I am the perfect person to carry the torch through the next 29 years,” Schlademan wrote on her campaign’s page. “For as long as I can remember I have wanted to own a bookshop.”

 “I truly understand the importance of the role the Owl plays in the thriving community that surrounds it as well as the in the community of independent book shops working to spread a love of books and reading all over the world,” she continued.  “With that in mind, I hope I can count on you to be a part of writing the Owl’s next chapter with me.”

In the campaign’s first week, Schlademan has received contributions of just over $6,000 toward her goal of $50,000. The campaign closes in January.

Red Lodge Has Best Year in 26-Year History

Red Lodge Books in Red Lodge, Montana, was recently featured in the Billings Gazette. Owner Gary Robson was commended for the wide array of items the store offers its customers, as well as books specializing in local history, nature, and science that reflect the owners’ taste.

“During the last three years, the bookish hangout… has become a mélange of [customers’] interests,” the Gazette reported, “a tea shop, a cigar counter, a children’s toys and books section, even leather-bound books and leather bags sold by a company from New York state.”

The increase in non-book and gift items has contributed to the indie’s current success. “I can say with certainty that this is the best year in the 26-year history of the store,” Robson said.

Red Lodge has operated in some form — first as Broadway Books, then a used bookstore — since 1986 and was purchased by Robson and his wife in 2001. The Robsons expanded in 2010 and added a tea shop.

Elliott Bay Hosts First Same-Sex Marriage

On December 9, the first day same-sex couples could marry after Washington state’s voter-approved gay marriage law took effect, Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company hosted its first same-sex marriage.

Photos of the wedding of Amy and Jeri are featured on the bookstore’s blog.