Bookseller Fights to Maintain Island's Historic Charm

When it comes to advocating change in local politics, it's good to have persistence and patience. Fortunately for the residents of Nantucket, Massachusetts, who want the town to retain its historic charm, bookseller Wendy Hudson possesses both.

It was in early 2005 that Hudson, who runs Nantucket Bookworks, raised the issue of amending Chapter 139 of the Code of the Town of Nantucket to, simply put, keep large chain stores out of historic downtown Nantucket. Now, a year later, Hudson told BTW that -- after failing to get the amendment on last year's docket due to legal technicalities -- she worked with the town's Planning Board to put the "anti-chain" amendment in the proper legal language, and it will be included on the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting in April.

In a February 2005 interview, Hudson credited ABA's educational programming at last year's BookExpo America and information on BookWeb.org, among other sources, for giving her the knowledge to be able to be proactive regarding the issue of chains versus local stores. "I can't stress enough how important ABA's focus on these issues has been," she said via e-mail.

Hudson does not believe there is much opposition to her amendment, though she would not hazard a guess as to whether the town's Planning Board members will give it their support at the April meeting.

In the meantime, Hudson explained, "A new developer bought a lot of downtown Nantucket," and, although the developer has said that he does not want to bring in chains, the situation "has contributed to the unease" about the future of downtown.

One thing is certain, however: A lot of Nantucket residents support Hudson's efforts. "I've been available for people to talk to, and I hear a lot of 'good for you!'" she said. "I want what's good for Nantucket's economy." --David Grogan