Downtown Santa Fe's New Gathering Place

Booksellers Dorothy Massey and Mary Wolf are off to an auspicious start in the new location of Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico. On June 12, the same day the 31-year-old business reopened in a new 4,000-square-foot space, the co-owners were presented with the New Mexico Book Association's Book-in-Hand Honor.

"It's going very, very well," Massey said of Collected Works' first few weeks in the new location. "We had a wonderful reception from the community, and we've already had several successful events. "We had 350 people for David Sedaris [on June 18], and we had 70 people last week for Arthur Sze, Santa Fe's first poet laureate."

Massey and Wolf moved all of Collected Works' inventory to the new space with the help of customers, friends, and authors. "We made the move without spending one dollar on gasoline," said Massey.

The new storefront, which is twice the size of the former space, allows more flexibility. "We're looking forward to doing more events, as well as starting a series of events, which we couldn't do in the old space," said Massey. "We'll have a regular poetry series, and book clubs in various genres. We're also welcoming community events, which will take place in our expanded cafe area." The expansion and addition of a cafe are part of a plan to fill an area need. "Santa Fe needed a downtown gathering place," said Massey. "And I hope very much that we will be that place."

Massey and Wolf's commitment to creating a "third place" was recognized by The New Mexico Book Association, which commended them for serving "New Mexico readers and authors with dedication and professionalism since buying the store in 1996."

Collected Works, now in a large, historic building "flooded with light," has an outdoor patio and a fireplace. A coffee bar and cafe is expected to open in July. Wolf designed the interior, which houses 30,000 books. The store specializes in local history, literature, poetry, cooking, and art. "Santa Fe has a well-read public, and it also has an astounding number of working authors and poets," explained Massey. "It's a very supportive community."

Now that the bricks-and mortar business is getting settled, Massey said Collected Works would also be moving online, to a new ABA IndieCommerce site.

Any further changes to the business will be driven by Collected Works' customers. "We are really looking to the literary community for their extensive and knowledgeable input on what to stock and how to be inviting as we can be," said Massey. "The store still has the feel of a finely tuned independent bookstore, and that we do not want to lose." --Karen Schechner