{"id":9812,"date":"2014-06-20T08:21:47","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T12:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=9812"},"modified":"2014-06-20T08:21:47","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T12:21:47","slug":"return-of-the-bookstore-around-the-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/return-of-the-bookstore-around-the-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Return of the Bookstore Around the Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2014 | view this file as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

These days, Portland’s all about independent bookstores.<\/h3>\n

By Jim Baumer<\/p>\n

\"Bookstores\"<\/a>In Portland, books and bookstores are deeply embedded in our city\u2019s cultural history and fabric. The city of Longfellow has had a local bookstore dating back to 1829, when Samuel Colesworthy opened his store devoted to the printed word at 92 Exchange Street. The space remained a bookstore well into the 20th century, when it was the A.J. Huston Book Store, Maine\u2019s oldest bookstore at the time and the second-oldest one in New England. Bookstores serve as a barometer for places valuing art and culture. In a city like Portland\u2013possessing the positive qualities that make it a popular destination for visitors and a place for creative types to put down roots\u2013losing bookstores served as a red flag.<\/p>\n

Portland once had multiple bookstores, but these bookselling mainstays have been disappearing. Bookland\u2013a chain that had stores all over the state including a location in the city\u2013went out of business in 2002. The Old Port lost Books, Etc. on Exchange Street in 2009.<\/p>\n

When news began leaking out in January that Sherman\u2019s Books & Stationery was considering locating a new store in the Old Port, it created a buzz. That a new bookstore would be anticipated and become a topic of conversation was a positive sign; Portland is still a place that cares about books and values bookstores.<\/p>\n

Fiercely Indie<\/strong><\/p>\n

While other bookstores have been closing, Longfellow Books has been at the forefront of the city\u2019s Buy Local movement. The store\u2019s passion for books and its affection for writing and local writers is why Longfellow has earned its reputation as Portland\u2019s booksel-ling hub. It\u2019s the place where any writer with a new book out wants to read.<\/p>\n

Chris Bowe, Longfellow\u2019s co-owner, sums up the city and the store\u2019s approach to books and bookselling that has won over the hearts of writers and fans of books.<\/p>\n

\u201cPortland is still the kind of place\u2013an intimate place\u2013where you feel like you can make a difference in a writer\u2019s life as a bookstore owner,\u201d says Bowe. \u201cIt\u2019s a nurturing, reciprocal kind of relationship you don\u2019t find in a lot of other places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Portland is a city, it often feels like one big small town, especially to its community of writers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPortland is a very supportive place for writers,\u201d says Monica Wood. \u201cI think it\u2019s in large part because of places like Longfellow Books and Nonesuch in South Portland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood has lived in Portland since 1976 and is the author of six books, including her latest, When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine<\/em>. She has read numerous times in and around Portland, as well as across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose stores are so good about keeping my books in front of readers,\u201d she says. \u201cAs you know, I take a while between books, and they always have my books out there and are recommending them to readers; I especially love Chris and Stuart at Longfellow,\u201d says Wood. \u201cThey are terrific and always make me (and every writer) feel special.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an age of corporate takeovers and big-box retailing, it might be forgiven if some view local bookstores as a quaint nod to nostalgia, or even a cultural anachronism. However, for writers and independent book publishers, buying books from a locally owned bookseller matters. Economically speaking, every dollar spent on a book from a local retailer, while supporting the writer and publishing in general, also allows a greater percentage to ripple through and multiply its effect in a community that cares about its local economy. This is one solid reason why Portland has managed to weather economic downturns.<\/p>\n

Susan Conley, the author of the 2013 novel Paris Was the Place <\/em>and one of the founding writers of The Telling Room, a nonprofit writing center focused on supporting young writers ages 6 to 18, recognizes how important bookstores are and why Portland is a great place to be a writer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the city has had a dearth of independent, local stores, Longfellow has become the<\/em> place to read in the city. I think it\u2019s much more than just there being only one place, too,\u201d says Conley.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Chris and Stuart\u2013it\u2019s in their tagline, \u2018fiercely independent\u2019\u2013foster a populist approach to books and how they treat writers. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a cookbook author from Lubec or a bestselling author like Richard Russo. Longfellow is committed to promoting their author events and making the writer feel appreciated. I think writers also really appreciate them back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riding the Tide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sherman\u2019s Books & Stationery is Maine\u2019s largest bookselling chain, with branches in Bar Harbor, Camden, Boothbay Harbor, Freeport, and now Portland. At the same time, it remains committed to the values that independent booksellers espouse. Like Longfellow, Sherman\u2019s is a member of the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA), a nonprofit trade group.<\/p>\n

While chains have been closing in Maine, with Mr. Paperback shuttering its 11 stores in 2011, Sherman\u2019s owner, Jeff Curtis, doesn\u2019t buy all the doom and gloom about bookstores.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t experienced a decreased trend in selling books,\u201d says Curtis. \u201cWhile we\u2019ve had some years that were down, overall we\u2019ve remained steady. There are still a lot of people who love books and read them\u2013our challenge as bookstore owners is connecting with readers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowing that Portland is Maine\u2019s literary hub, and prompted by his daughter, Tori, pictured on page 145, Curtis felt Portland was under-served in relation to bookstores.<\/p>\n

The model for Sherman\u2019s differs slightly from that at Longfellow Books: \u201cIt\u2019s not a zero-sum game (in relation to e-books and other developments with books) for booksellers,\u201d says Curtis. \u201cWe are committed to books and supporting writers\u2013we also carry other items besides books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherman\u2019s opened its doors on Exchange Street in April. The response from the community seems to validate what Curtis believed in expanding into Portland\u2013that the city, especially the Old Port\u2013benefited from another independent bookstore.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been coming in\u201d with warm welcomes and appreciation for their venture, says Curtis.<\/p>\n

While the Sherman\u2019s opening has gotten the lion\u2019s share of attention, another small, independent bookseller set up shop last year, serving North Deering, on Portland\u2019s outskirts.<\/p>\n

Letterpress Books opened its doors at Portland\u2019s Northgate Plaza in October. It\u2019s a family-run enterprise, with owners John Paul and Karen Bakshoian, along with daughter Katherine Osborne, usually in the store. Their passion for books is obvious, and they\u2019ve created a space that makes visitors feel at home. Letterpress is also the first bookstore this neighborhood\u2019s had since Bookland closed in 2002.<\/p>\n

\u201cKath\u2019s managed bookstores for nearly 25 years,\u201d says her mother. \u201cWe felt it was time she had her own store.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bakshoians report that not only are shoppers coming in from Portland but from Windham, Falmouth, Cumberland, and Yarmouth.<\/p>\n

Culture Club<\/strong><\/p>\n

While food, art, and music are important, so are books and the literary aspirations of a place. Maybe the writing life illustrates this best and encapsulates the qualities of place that Portland has in abundance.<\/p>\n

Morgan Callan Rogers, who released her critically acclaimed debut novel, Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea,<\/em> in 2012 at age 60, captures the essence of Portland for writers. Rogers, who now spends part of her year in South Dakota, wrote her book while living in the city\u2019s East Bayside section.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved writing all day and then getting up and taking a walk with my dog and walking down to the beach,\u201d says Rogers. \u201cMaybe what attracts writers to the city is that mix of grittiness Portland still has, with the beauty of the ocean and Casco Bay\u2013I think it\u2019s what attracts writerly minds to the place,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s that quality of the history of writers and then, walking around and sensing you\u2019re surrounded by people who love writing and support writing\u2013it\u2019s a wonderful place for writers to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron Currie, Jr., is a writer who grew up in Waterville, 90 minutes north. He still maintains an apartment there while also spending considerable time at his residence in Portland. Currie\u2019s latest novel, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles<\/em>, came out in 2013.<\/p>\n

Portland is a unique city in many ways, not just around books and bookstores. People don\u2019t have the same attachment to businesses they did 50 years ago,\u201d says Currie. \u201cBut with a place like Longfellow Books, you see people who connect with the store in a way that\u2019s really special. What\u2019s really cool is that when they had the flooding of the store, the community demonstrated how much their store means to the city.\u201d [A window blown in by the February blizzard of 2013 caused pipes to freeze and burst in the building, flooding the store. Community help drying, cleaning, repairing, and re-opening the store was overwhelming.]<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s culture and the emphasis on local commerce and supporting businesses all play an important part in fostering a unique literary environment. Size also matters when it comes to Portland, which is something Monica Wood recognizes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think part of it [the city\u2019s charm] is that Portland is small enough and intimate enough that all the writers know one another,\u201d Wood says. \u201cIn fact, Portland\u2019s a very warm community of writers\u2013there\u2019s no \u2018writer\u2019s hierarchy\u2019 in Portland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Baumer is a Maine-based free-lance writer and the author of books about town team baseball and Moxie. His book, The Perfect Number: Essays & Stories, Vol. I,<\/em> is due out this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2014
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