The Book Stall Named PW Bookseller of the Year

Publishers Weekly [1] has named Roberta Rubin’s The Book Stall at Chestnut Court [2] in Winnetka, Illinois, as the  PW Bookseller of the Year for 2012 [3].

In February, Rubin celebrated 30 years as the store’s owner and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the original Chestnut Court Bookstore. Over the years, The Book Stall has accrued a number of honors, including the Haslam Award for Excellence in Independent Bookselling. It has been named one of the top 10 outstanding bookstores in the country by USA Today and one of the top 10 bookstores in the Chicago area by the Chicago Tribune.

Random House district sales manager Laura Baratto told PW: “I love working with The Book Stall. Roberta has been doing this for 30 years and her enthusiasm is still running high. When they get excited about a book they can sell 400 or 500 copies. When the book is a big hit everywhere that is impressive, but they can do this with books that have not hit so big nationally. They are some of the best handsellers in the business. The store is a must on most author tours. They do a great job with small lunchtime get-togethers, enormous offsite events, and everything in between.”

The PW Rep of the Year title, for the first time, will be shared jointly by Random House district sales managers Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness.

Rubin will be accepting the PW Bookseller of the Year Award at this year’s BookExpo America [4].