About Bookstores

Throughout the U.S. this month and next, the importance of reading is taking center stage as 22 State Centers for the Book help to promote the upcoming National Book Festival, to be held in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, October 12, 2002. In Arkansas and Minnesota, state Centers for the Book are doing this with help from independent booksellers.

Following in a noble tradition, in the past few years, some independent booksellers have begun publishing or writing their own books. These booksellers noted that -- despite experiencing many challenges along the way -- publishing or authoring books has given them a sense of accomplishment and has allowed them to bring to light important books or ideas that otherwise might never have been published.

The river's end bookstore,

The September 30 issue of The New Yorker -- on newsstands September 23 -- will feature the latest Book Sense section, "Just Kidding -- Books for Children and Young Adults." The 10-page special feature will present the handselling favorites of 13 independent booksellers, and the titles are drawn from the fall 2002 Children's Book Sense 76. (The full 76 can be reviewed here.)

Bookmark contests create big community involvement, if The Village Book Store in Littleton, New Hampshire, and Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, are representative of other stores between the coasts. Nationally, many independents currently are gearing up for their annual bookmark contests to coincide with National Children's Book Week in November when winners are announced.

People who love their local bookstores may never have the opportunity to express their feelings. That's not so at the Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Montana.

What should have been a simple transaction almost got Vroman's Bookstore Vice President/General Manager Karen Watkins arrested. As Watkins tells it, on July 31, a group of three customers brought a box of 4" x 6" writing journals up to the register at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California. The cashier began scanning the journals -- 11 journals priced at $4.95 each -- and gave the customers the total price. There were two problems, however. First, the cashier overcharged the customers by about $5.

For over 400 years, shipwrecks have landed hapless voyagers on the shores, or in the waters, of Bermuda. Now thousands come eagerly on titanic cruise ships to enjoy the sand, surf, and shops of the balmy island. As the boats reach port in Hamilton, Bermuda's capital and only city, those looking out can see the sign for The Bermuda Book Store awaiting them on the corner of Front and Queen streets.

The upcoming anniversary of the September 11 tragedies will be marked in bookstores with an emphasis on helping people to mourn the disastrous events and, also, according to many booksellers around the country, on offering opportunities for healing and education. Any attempts to use the anniversary as a self-serving marketing tool made all booksellers extremely uncomfortable. Many opted for in-store events that included both speakers who have had personal experience with the disasters and others who have analyzed the events or have attempted to find solutions.

Gayle Shanks, co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, wrote this "letter" to friends of the store, for the bookstore's September e-mail newsletter, BookStories. BTW is grateful for permission to reprint her letter, which is a wonderful travelogue of a true bookperson's busman's holiday. Dear Bookstore Friends,