About Bookstores

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has planned a Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing on the USA Patriot Act for April 14, at 10:00 a.m. MST in the Moot Court Room of the University of Utah law school in Salt Lake City, Utah. The hearing is open to the public.

In the early '70s, when Gayle Shanks was a teacher at an alternative school in central Phoenix, she and her friends used to gather on the porch at the end of the day and talk about what they were going to do when they "grew up." One day, they came up with the idea of opening their own brand of bookstore -- one where books would become the focus of the community, and they and their books would shape how their customers viewed the world, and, of course, they'd get to read all day….

The student-staff at the Colby (College) Bookstore in Waterville, Maine, has been eagerly awaiting the announcement of the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year finalists. According to Barb Shutt, the store's assistant director, this is the second year the store is having the students on staff read the finalists and then rate them to come up with the store's vote for the Book of the Year Awards.

A retirement for anyone is bound to be a bittersweet thing, and for Dick Noyes and his wife, Judy, the decision to close their bookstore of almost 45 years is no exception. When the Chinook Bookshop opened in 1959 in Colorado Springs, independent bookstores had a wide-open future, Dick Noyes told BTW. Now, he said, with the onslaught of big box retailers over the past 10 years and the more recent success of Internet retailers, that is not the case anymore.

When a bibliophile changes career to become a bookseller, the switch usually represents the culmination of a long-harbored love of the profession. Or not. Maureen Palacios had never considered owning a bookstore, but she just didn't want to see Once Upon a Time Bookshoppe, a 36-year-old institution in Montrose, California, go under.

New Diesel-Powered Bookstore to Open in Malibu

Alison Reid and John Evans, owners of the Oakland, California's Diesel, A Bookstore, are heading to the beach in Malibu. The two have been camping in and visiting the coastal outpost for over a dozen years, but this time they are bringing books. By the end of April, Evans expects to open Diesel, a Bookstore, Malibu, a 1,800-square-foot space in one of the area's oldest shopping centers.

A Likely Story, the 20-year-old children's bookstore in Alexandria, Virginia, has changed ownership, but otherwise has remained much the same. Although Dinah Paul became the store's new owner on March 1, the founder and former owner, Marilyn Dugan, continues to work there, as does the rest of the staff. Sheilah Egan, store manager and president of New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, also eases the transition from past to present. Paul knows the staff well after working in the store for the past year and a half.

In mid-February, the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, and PEN American Center launched the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP), a petition drive that calls for Congress to amend Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. And booksellers participating in the campaign who spoke to BTW say it is vital that all independent booksellers join the cause -- and now, before it's too late. "I think it's a critical time to do this [petition campaign]," said Neal Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz in California.

Robert Sheard, who recently opened Bookshop by the Lakes in West End, North Carolina, said he got into bookselling for the same reason a lot of people do, self-defense. "I ran out of room for all my books at home," he explained. After a lifetime of bibliophilia and with ongoing careers as an English professor, author, and investment advisor, Sheard turned to bookselling.

Patrons of a former Waldenbooks in Norcross, a part of metro-Atlanta, are extremely happy that the shuttered store has turned Chapter 11. This Chapter 11 is hardly a financial calamity, though. It's a family-owned, Atlanta-based chain of 14 neighborhood bookstores. As of March 1, make that 15 with the Norcross store, which was one of the few freestanding Borders-owned Waldenbooks.

Maria's Bookshop, owned by husband and wife Peter Schertz and Andrea Avantaggio, was recently named the Best Small Business of the Year by the Durango, Colorado, Chamber of Commerce. In announcing the award, the Chamber of Commerce cited Maria's dedication to the community and great customer service.