Left Bank Books Anchors Thriving St. Louis Bookselling Scene

Left Bank Books will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend with a reading by store co-founder Anita Diamant (Day After Night, Scribner) followed by a discussion and reception hosted by co-owners Kris Kleindienst, Jarek Steele, and Barry Leibman. Kleindienst said, "We are thrilled to have made it this long." All are invited November 8 for "food and wine and some fun, digitally compiled memories as well."

It was recently announced that Leibman, a co-owner of Left Bank Books since 1977, will be leaving at the end of the year after more than 35 years with the store. "I love this store, and cherish the years I've spent with it," he said. "It is important in the life of any organization that new talent come to the fore, and I am happy that we have multiple levels of that talent at Left Bank Books."

"I will deeply miss Barry, with whom I have worked so closely for three and a half decades on behalf of this little bookstore that we love so much," said Kleindienst, a writer and activist, who won a Lambda Literary Award for her collection of essays, This Is What Lesbian Looks Like: Dyke Activists Take On the 21st Century (Firebrand Books). Like Leibman, who is an artist, she never intended to make bookselling her life's work. "But there was clearly something about Left Bank and its mission that caught hold of both of us." After Liebman leaves, all the financial responsibilities will fall on Kleindienst and Steele, who is also her life partner.

Left Bank Books was founded in 1969 by graduate students from Washington University. In late 2008, a second Left Bank location opened in the heart of downtown St. Louis. The bookstore has been able to serve as a St. Louis institution for the past 40 years "because of the love, sweat, and tears of many many people, only some of whom have actually worked here," said Kleindienst. "There is a whole community for whom this store seems absolutely necessary, as well as many incredible talented booksellers who are willing to sacrifice financial well-being to work here. While we are perhaps taken for granted by some, we have become, at least in the book world, as much a fixture of St. Louis culture as the symphony or the zoo or the arch."

The bookstore, which offers a culturally diverse selection of titles with a focus on politics, contemporary arts and literature, high-quality children's books, African-American interest, and GLBT titles, has a busy events calendar -- sometimes 25 a month ranging from first-time authors and local poets to Hillary Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter. Plans are in the works to establish a nonprofit arm devoted to cultural event programming and children's literacy. Kleindiest said, "We hope to be able to roll our Friends of Left Bank Books Literary Society, the first group of its kind in the country, into this program to attract more donations. We want to grow River City Readers, a project we do with the St. Louis Public Schools where customers sponsor a book of the month for kids one classroom at a time."

An important part of Left Bank's contributions to the community has been paving the way for other indie bookstores. "I love what is going on with the bookstores in St. Louis right now," PGW Rep Jen Reynolds recently told BTW. "With Left Bank's beautiful new location downtown, a new store called Pudd'nhead Books in Webster Groves, a thriving Subterranean in the Delmar Loop, and a recently opened Main Street Books in St. Charles, there is much to be excited about for the booklover in this city!"

Nikki Furrer, owner of Pudd'nhead Books, agreed. "I just celebrated my first anniversary, and as St. Louis' newest full service indie, I've definitely seen the demand for good books and author events increase this year. The indies in St. Louis work together to promote each other, and each others' events and areas of expertise, with what I think is a real gift for our city."

Of other indies on the St. Louis bookselling scene, Reynolds added, "Kelly von Plonski and her crew at Subterranean Books on the Delmar Loop are smart, savvy booksellers offering an amazing, in-depth selection of art, poetry, fiction, counterculture, music, children's, and the Beats, among many others. Main Street Books in St. Charles is a must stop for any booklover if you are visiting St. Louis! Vicki Erwin has done an amazing job with this lovely historic building that houses the store (originally built in 1821)." --Karen Schechner