Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, N.H., has won the Book Publishers Representatives of New England's 2017 Independent Spirit Award, which recognizes "the excellence in a bookstore member of the New England Independent Booksellers Association."
Debra Woodward, the BPRNE member who nominated Water Bookstore, wrote, in part, that the store is her "personal local bookstore, so I get to see how important they are to the community of Exeter and the entire Seacoast! They do wonderful events, and each one gets a creative window display. The store is lovingly curated, and I LOVE their use of shelf talkers. Dan [Chartrand] obviously takes great pride in the bookstore and indie bookselling and cares about the community. And Stef [Kiper Schmidt] is amazing! She is the most even-tempered person I have met in the business. She just kind of floats in and out and never gets flustered. And she gets it done. She knows books and how to make things easy."
The award includes two nights lodging at the NEIBA fall conference September 18-20 in Providence, R.I., and a free ticket to all NEIBA meals for an exceptional bookseller of Water Street's choosing who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend the show.
