Around Indies

Country Bookshelf Wins Europa International Book Fair Scholarship

Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Montana, has won Europa Editions’ first-ever Europa International Book Fair Scholarship (EIBS).

“Europa is thrilled to share this honor with Montana’s largest independent bookstore, which has brought quality books and cultural programming to the Bozeman community since 1957,” the publisher said in press release.

Europa will be sending one lucky bookseller from the store to the Frankfurt Book Fair (October 19–23, 2016), where they will attend bookseller-focused panels, meet authors from around the world, attend publishing parties, meet Elena Ferrante’s 40-plus international publishers and translators, and more.

The winner was selected by random drawing from more than 50 bookstores across the U.S. that will be hosting #FerranteNightFever events during the week of October 31 to celebrate the launch of Ferrante’s Frantumaglia: An Author’s Journey and The Beach at Night on November 1.

Let’s Play Books! Plans Move and Expansion

In September, Let’s Play Books! is moving two blocks away, to 244 Main Street in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The new location is more than three times the size of the current store, which will allow for a significant increase in inventory.

The new store has three levels. The first floor will include a general interest adult section, stationery and gifts, and a large room dedicated to children. The second floor will have middle grade and young adult books, as well as a dedicated activity space that store owner Kirsten Hess said “will provide a venue for book clubs, private meetings, small group events, even a place for kids to do homework after school, or writers who want a little change of scenery.”

The store is launching a fundraising campaign to help cover expansion costs, including increased inventory, furniture, display racks, and rugs, as well as computer and software needs. Contributors will be able to pick from a variety of thank you gifts. Let’s Play Books! will have modified hours from August 22 to September 21 and will host a grand reopening celebration in its new space from September 22 through 25.

Trail’s End Bookstore to Move and Expand

In October, Trail’s End Bookstore will relocate a few steps down Winthrop, Washington’s boardwalk to the White Buck Trading Company building, reported Methow Valley News.

The move will more than double the space that Trail’s End now occupies, co-owner Christine Janikowski said, and book inventory will be expanded. More seating space will also be available to shoppers.

The store, managed by Abiline Hagee, a longtime Trail’s End employee, hopes to host book clubs and other community groups looking for a gathering spot. It will also feature an expanded children’s book section. “We want to have space for kids to sprawl and hang out,” Janikowski said.

This House of Books Finds a Home

This House of Books, a new Billings, Montana, community-owned bookstore, has signed a lease on a 2,800 square foot space in the city’s downtown area. The building, originally the Billings Masonic Temple, is located at 224 North Broadway.

“This location will be perfect for us,” said Gary Robson, This House of Books CEO and general manager. “Our proximity to the Parmly Billings Library makes it easy to collaborate on book events, the Farmer’s Market will be a perfect showcase for our tea bar, and it’s a gorgeous building.”

Robson, the former owner of Red Lodge Books, said the new location is significantly bigger than his previous store and will offer more books and a broader selection of games.

Renovations to the new space will include hardwood floors and rustic shelving and fixtures. As a co-op, This House of Books is relying on community involvement and volunteers. One of the first volunteer activities will be a painting party, and volunteers are already helping with fundraising, podcasts, and social media.

Funding for the store comes from sales of shares for which members/owners receive benefits depending on their level of investment.

Browseabout’s Rodgers Named NAIBA Handseller of the Year

Kathy Rodgers of Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, has won the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association’s 2016 Drabyak Handseller of the Year Award.

“I feel that this award is the icing on the cake of my bookselling career,” said Rodgers, who has been in the book business for more than 40 years. “It reinforces my belief that hand-selling is still an integral and relevant part of the book business.”

Rodgers began her career as a part-time bookseller at Encore Books in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and then worked for a short time in the corporate world before returning to the book industry as a corporate sales rep with Borders Books & Music. She began working at Browseabout when she and her husband relocated to Delaware.

Rodgers will be honored at the NAIBA Fall Conference’s Awards Banquet on Sunday, October 16, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Book Beat Recognized as a “Super Store”

Oak Park, Michigan’s Book Beat was recently recognized by the Detroit Free Press as a “Super Store — a metro Detroit store that is super fabulous because of its super service or super selection or super prices or super location or all of the above.”

If the store, which stocks more than 50,000 different titles in paperback and hardcover, were a person, the Detroit Free Press said, “it would be an absent-minded professor, clothes wrinkled, hair a little messy, but positively brilliant.”

The 34-year-old business, owned by husband-and-wife team Cary Loren and Colleen Kammer, “is staffed by folks who know and love books, books, and more books,” the newspaper said, adding that “Book Beat is as much a place to buy books as it is a philosophy — fostering a true love of books.”

Book Beat carries a wide-ranging inventory, but “what makes it truly super is its commitment to children's books,” the newspaper said, noting that “Kammer knows just about everything there is to know about books for kids” and is trusted by customers looking for the perfect book for their children and grandchildren.

Phoenix Books Voted Best Bookstore

Independent weekly newspaper Seven Days has awarded Phoenix Books, which has locations in Rutland, Essex, and Burlington, Vermont, with the Seven Daysies Best Bookstore in Vermont award, as voted by readers.

“It is an honor to be awarded the Seven Daysies Award for Best Bookstore 2016,” said Phoenix Books general manager Colleen Shipman. “I want to thank everyone who voted for us, and also thank our customers for choosing Phoenix Books as their bookstore.”

Earlier this year, Phoenix Books won the Best of the Best Reader’s Choice Award for a local bookstore from the Rutland Herald newspaper.