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Jul
10
BTT: My Favorite Bookstore
2008 at 9am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
What would you do if, all of a sudden, your favorite source of books was unavailable?
Whether it’s a local book shop, your town library, or an internet shop … what would you do if, suddenly, they were out of business? Devastatingly, and with no warning? Where would you go for books instead? What would you do? If it was a local business you would try to help out the owners? Would you just calmly start buying from some other store? Visit the library in the next town instead? Would it be devastating? Or just a blip in your reading habit?
There are a couple different ways I could answer this. If the place where I buy most of my books burned down, I’d be out of a job, so I’d be pretty bummed….but I could go to any of my company’s other stores to continue making purchases with my discount (which is a pretty nice perk for someone whose reading habit has become rather expensive.) If my favorite bookstore–a fantastic place called Bookman’s Alley in Evanston, IL–burned down, I’d be very, very sad.
I discovered Bookman’s Alley by accident. When we were in college in Chicago, my husband (well, he was my boyfriend then) and I would head up to Evanston to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. One chilly fall day, we were walking to our favorite restaurant there when we noticed a sign for a bookstore pointing down into the alley between two busy streets. Never those to pass up a bookstore, we followed the arrow and stumbled into the inviting warmth of this cozy building with room after room of treasures. Okay, it’s not really that big, but there is something new to be discovered everywhere you turn. We were greeted at the door by an older gentleman with kind eyes and a professorly beard who offered us a warm cup of cider and showed us first to used & vintage copies of classic books, then to the selection of old history, sociology, and current affairs, then into the next room, where he stored vintage posters and artwork from both world wars and much more. At one point, he even had Sacajawea’s chest of drawers. We loved Bookman’s Alley and made many visits during our four years in Chicago. I collect old editions of The Scarlet Letter, and I found my favorite one there.
So if Bookman’s Alley were to burn down, I’d lose not only an excellent resource but the home of many of my warmest memories from cold afternoon walks with the man who would become my husband. It wouldn’t be devastating, but it would be pretty bad. I haven’t bought books there in several years, but I would be sad not to have the opportunity to anymore. I would probably write the owner a letter sharing my memories of Bookman’s Alley and ask if there was any way I could help. I like the idea of keeping places like this alive, in hopes that people of all ages could stumble upon it unexpectedly and fall more in love with literature…and each other.
Sadly, the Bookman’s Alley doesn’t have a website of its own, but you can get some information about it by visiting their neighbors at The Alley Gallery. I’m also told that the store makes an appearance in The Time Traveller’s Wife.
Yours is the second post today to remind me of used bookstores in downtown Cincinnati when I was in school — something I didn’t initially remember when I was responding to today’s question. Bookman’s Alley sounds wonderful! Your description reminds me of how many levels and nuances there can be to a good bookstore experience.
Sounds like a wonderful store. Yes, we definitely need to keep places like this alive, and hope to find more of them!
Bookman’s Alley sounds like my idea of heaven!
What a nice place to meet a future husband.
Sounds like a great bookstore! It’s great to get acquainted with the bookstore owners; they’re like friends to us.
What a neat story! Sounds like a wonderful bookstore. I’m so curious about your collection of The Scarlet Letter books, too. How awesome is that? And I’d love to see pics of your library wedding!
[...] I visit when I’m on vacation. Bookman’s Alley, which I described in last week’s post, always gets a visit when I’m in Chicago, and when I visit my family in KC, I try to make a [...]
[...] IL. I wrote about it for a recent Booking Through Thursday post, so you can read more by clicking here. Bookman’s Alley is a wonderful place to while away an afternoon, add books to your personal [...]
[...] IL. I wrote about it for a recent Booking Through Thursday post, so you can read more by clicking here. Bookman’s Alley is a wonderful place to while away an afternoon, add books to your personal [...]