Delaware Booksellers: Small State, Big Ideas

Jack and Gemma Buckley, the owners of Ninth Street Book Shop in Wilmington, share a lot of big ideas with the residents of the tiny state of Delaware. The two former teachers, who opened the store in 1977, have been busy dealing with erosion -- both in their city's downtown business environment and in the federal government's protection of the First Amendment rights of its citizens. But, as they have for the past 30 years, the Buckleys are facing the new challenges, and when necessary, adapting.

Ninth Street Book Shop is now only one hundred feet away from the site of the original store, but the area has changed dramatically according to Jack Buckley. "I'd say that fewer than 10 percent of the businesses that were here when we opened are still around. There are lots of empty stores. Retail has declined significantly -- moved to the suburbs."

Pointing to workers who drive to and from their office buildings, Buckley said, "They stay in their buildings all day, get their lunch in an in-house cafeteria, then leave."

To adapt to the changing environment, the Buckleys have revised Ninth Street's inventory -- fewer business books, more fiction -- and reduced the title base. "We still manage to have the right book for people," he said. "We're careful watchers [of our inventory], and we're good at getting stuff back on the shelf. We also do a lot of out-of-print searches."

A member of the board of directors of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Jack Buckley is a staunch advocate of reader privacy and limiting the power of the USA Patriot Act. The 6,000-square-foot general bookstore has played host to several events in support of reader privacy.

In 2004, when the store posted a petition, sponsored by the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP), calling for an amendment to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the results were "nothing short of phenomenal... a great response; a wonderful response," said Buckley.

That same year, he met with Delaware's sole U.S. representative, Michael Castle (R), to discuss concerns over the Patriot Act, and Castle subsequently voted for the Freedom to Read Amendment.

"One of the nice things about living in such a small state," Buckley said, "is that everyone knows everyone. The senators and congressman are approachable -- we see them around." Local and statewide media are also amenable to requests for coverage.

Buckley also told BTW that Wilmington passed a resolution denouncing the Patriot Act.

The Ninth Street Book Shop was one of the stores that pilot tested the first ABFFE/Book Sense gift card. "They were a great success," Buckley said. "We sold enough of them to bring in $500 for ABFFE. They were very popular with our customers."

Buckley is optimistic about renewed efforts to revitalize Wilmington's downtown and to establish a "buy local" campaign, and he has no interest in doing some other type of work.

"[After 30 years], we're still slugging away," Buckley said, "It's a wonderful job." --Nomi Schwartz