My Bookstore: The Toadstool Bookshop

The bonds between authors and indie booksellers are celebrated in My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop, coming from Black Dog & Leventhal this November. In the spirit of the book, Black Dog & Leventhal is inviting booksellers to sharpen their pencils or turn on their video cameras to express their feelings about “Why My Bookstore Matters” for a chance to win one of three $2,500 scholarships [1] to Winter Institute 8. A major portion of the scholarship funding has been generously provided by the authors who contributed to the book.

In the weeks leading up to My Bookstore’s release, BTW is featuring excerpts from the book alongside interviews with store owners and managers. In this week’s excerpt, Joan Wickersham, author of The News From Spain: Seven Variations on a Love Story and The Suicide Index, describes her relationship with New Hampshire’s The Toadstool Bookshop [2], which began when she received the first of her residencies at the MacDowell Colony [3].

I have been lucky enough to return for several more MacDowell residencies since 2004. When I am working at MacDowell, I visit The Toadstool almost daily, in that edgy, wistful, look-but-don’t-touch way, exhilarated and refreshed by the presence of the books and the bookstore but careful not to let myself become lost in other writers’ voices.

And my son and I have continued to make regular pilgrimages up to Peterborough to shop at The Toadstool. He heads straight for the used section, where he amasses an armload of novels, sits in a chair to sift through them, and generally ends by buying them all. I try — and fail — to cover the entire store. Speaking of failure, some of my most vivid Toadstool memories are of books I saw there and failed to buy: the complete poems of Joseph Brodsky, an old edition of Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House (Cather wrote at MacDowell and is buried in nearby Jaffrey, New Hampshire; her books often show upin local bookstores, but you don’t often see The Professor’s House,unlike the strangely ubiquitous Death Comes for the Archbishop andSapphira and the Slave Girl). But I’ve had many more successes:other Willa Cather novels; a boxed set of four volumes in the GeorgeBraziller “Great Ages of World Architecture” series for my husband;several old children’s hardcovers — Shadow of a Bull, The Witch ofBlackbird Pond — each of which has caused the staff person at theregister to say, “Wow, I wonder if the owner even knew this was here,”making me feel that I am getting not only a treasure, but a bargain, adiamond priced as rhinestone.

Willard Williams was just 19 years old when he opened the first Toadstool Bookshop in 1972 in his hometown of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Eleven years later, he opened a second Toadstool in a new marketplace in a renovated, pre-Civil War textile mill in Keene, New Hampshire; and in 1989, he founded a third store in Milford, New Hampshire. In 1992, Williams moved the flagship Peterborough store into a 7,500-square-foot former A&P supermarket.

BTW: What does it mean to you to have Toadstool Bookshop profiled by Joan Wickersham in this collection, and to know that major funding for three scholarships to Winter Institute 8 has been donated by the authors who contributed to the book?

Willard Williams: We very honored when our bookstore was suggested as a candidate for the book and really pleased that Joan Wickersham responded immediately to our request for the profile. We had no idea the publisher and the authors were donating the scholarships until just now reading about it. I think it truly underscores the commitment these authors have to the continued success of independent bookstores, recognizing the importance of helping booksellers learn to adapt to these changing times through the educational seminars and knowledge sharing that takes place at the Winter Institute.

BTW: What do you hope readers take away from Toadstool’s profile, and what do you think the collection does for all indie booksellers as a whole, whether or not they are featured in the collection?

WW: I hope, of course, that the profile will bring some of the readers our way. But more so, I hope they will come to understand how it is really the community that builds a good bookstore. Our stock is broad and fascinating, reflecting the interests of those who live here and/or frequent our store.  May the reader come to realize that a community that comes together actively supporting the local bookshop will be rewarded with a great store.   I think the book itself will help to grow the distinctive recognition that independent booksellers have acquired in their own communities and encourage readers to think more closely about their relationships with their local bookstores.

BTW: In her essay, Joan Wickersham writes about her time at the MacDowell Colony, and the books she wrote while she was there are now stocked at Toadstool alongside those of many other MacDowell fellows. What is the bookshop’s relationship with MacDowell residents? How do you cater to them if they, like Wickersham fear the distraction of “another writer’s preoccupations and cadences?”

WW: I enjoyed Joan's writerly perspective on encountering bookshelves filled with other authors’ works at a time when she is trying to write one that will someday join the others. We do try to stock the books of MacDowell fellows and have a separate bookcase featuring these writers. However, so many writers come through the Colony, we often joke the whole store belongs on that shelf. Writers’ working preferences seem to vary greatly. Most of those at the Colony are there for four weeks or so and, of course, dedicate their time to work. The authors we see the most are probably those who feel the least distracted by reading the works of others. I suspect there is also a strong sense of camaraderie, as they are often buying each other’s books.

BTW: As the owner of a 40-year-old business, you’ve seen the landscape of the industry shift drastically several times. What do you think is the key to your longstanding success?

We always start from the perspective of the readers; we are readers ourselves; we remain steadfastly on the readers’ side and it shows. We never call them customers. We respect their tastes and interests and work hard to satisfy them. Our job is to find and stock in abundance the books they will enjoy, to display them in an inviting and pleasant atmosphere, to be conscious of price (where remainders and used books fit in), and to be there to help. Remaining loyal to the readers is the key, if there is such a thing.

BTW: What advice would you give another veteran bookseller who is trying to remain current and competitive? What would you say to someone thinking of opening or buying an indie bookstore today?

The best advice is perhaps to continue to love what you do. Your store will reflect that and book browsers and buyers will sense it. In this age of the Internet, an enjoyable real world experience is what it's all about. Whether it’s comfortable chairs or lots of events, those in your store need to feel a sense of joy emanating from every corner.

I am always pleased to hear about new stores opening and really admire the owners' enthusiasm.  Learn from your peers at Winter Institute and throw yourself into it. It's going to take all you've got. Just be sure you have plenty of money available — bookselling remains a capitalist business and tougher than ever these days.

Read BTW’s first excerpt from My Bookstore: “Octavia Books” by Michael Tisserand and a chat with store co-owner Tom Lowenburg. [4]

Find out more about the Black Dog and Leventhal My Bookstore scholarship contest. [1]