Bank Street Bookstore Celebrates 35 Years

The Bank Street Bookstore, celebrating its 35th anniversary this fall, began in a crowded space in the main lobby of the prestigious Bank Street College of Education. Still owned by the college, the Bank Street Bookstore, in a two-story, 4,000-square-foot building since 1990, never actually existed on the eponymous Bank Street in New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood.

In 1970, the year that Bank Street College moved uptown to West 112 Street, the Bank Street Bookstore occupied 500-square-feet inside the college building and sold textbooks, along with a select inventory of children's books and books about teaching. Although open to the public, few, other than Bank Street students and staff, could find or fit into the store.

Since the move to its current space, however, the store has undergone major renovations, expanding upstairs to convert offices into selling space and, just this summer, moving the front door and cash-wrap from 112th street to Broadway, the legendary thoroughfare.

According to Beth Puffer, store manager and buyer, who began working at the bookstore in 1986, Bank Street Bookstore welcomes all shoppers from its new entrance. The store stocks all manner of books for children and parents of all ages and stages, teacher supplies and curriculum guides, games and plush gifts, but has discontinued in-store sales of textbooks.

Store event with Delicious Desserts.

"A few years ago, we began offering 'great holiday books for grown-ups,'" said Puffer, who noted that the store draws heavily from Book Sense Picks, among others. "And we have continued stocking a table of them." A complete selection of books can also be ordered from Bank Street's BookSense.com website, www.bankstreetbooks.com. Puffer said that over 500 people purchased copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the Bank Street Bookstore. "We offered a great promotion with the special Harry Potter gift cards."

One of the great strengths of the bookstore's location in New York City and its affiliation with Bank Street College is the tremendous diversity of backgrounds and lifestyles represented. "We have great collections of picture books for children of all races and religions," Puffer said.

"All of our subject categories include a wide variety of views. For Columbus Day, we featured Rethinking Columbus (AK Press), along with the usual selections. Bank Street College has model programs and lab schools that attract visitors from all over the world. They often come by and shop at the store."

Beginning on September 17 and continuing through October 21, Bank Street Bookstore is celebrating its 35th anniversary in numerous ways: the first 35 customers each day will receive a special discount; a discount is available on its list of 35 favorite books; raffles are being held each day, for 35 days; and dozens of special events have been scheduled.

"Even for us," Puffer noted, "we're having a large number of events." She counted at least 33 children's events and 13 teacher nights during the anniversary period. The programming features author readings from Kate DiCamillo, Jon Scieszka, Cornelia Funke, Jules Feiffer, Betsy Lewin and Doreen Cronin, among many others; a live taping of The Night Kitchen Radio Theater with Arthur Yorinks; an Art of Reading illustrator's panel led by author Leonard Marcus; and a sneak preview of the Junie B. Jones musical from Theatreworks, USA.

"We do have an unbelievable number of events, but New York has an unbelievable number of activities for children. We never know for sure if we will attract a crowd, people have so many choices," Puffer told BTW. --Nomi Schwartz