Worth of a Bookstore (04.19.22)

Worth of a Bookstore (04.19.22)
Sometimes someone else’s words are too beautiful not to hold and consider, and to quote, especially as we near Independent Bookstore Day. From novelist Jane Smiley, in an old essay from Publisher’s Weekly, with thanks to Coffee House Press, which printed a gorgeous broadside titled The Worth of a Bookstore. “Leaving any bookstore is hard, especially on a day in August, when the street outside burns and glares, and the books inside are cool and crisp to the touch; especially on a day in January, when the wind is blowing, the ice is treacherous, and the books inside seem to gather together in colorful warmth. It’s hard to leave a bookstore any day of the year, though, because a bookstore is one of the few places where all the cantankerous, conflicting, alluring voices of the world co-exist in peace and order, and the avid reader is as free as a person can possibly be, because she is free to choose among them.”
 
I think of this sometimes when I visit my local bookstore, SubText Books(@SubTextaBookstore) in downtown St. Paul, tucked away and friendly and full of comfortable spots to sit while perusing its wonders. And when I hold this graceful broadside in my hand, I think “Peg, you need more wall space.” (Illustration attributed to Leslie Ross Pages.) Saturday, April 30 is national Independent Bookstore Day, a one-day party that takes place at independent bookstores. Stop in!