As we've already observed in this series, walking the high wire between political activism and something resembling neutrality can be challenging for indie booksellers in any community. Decisions--about inventory selection, customer interactions, community service and more--have to be made every day.
Last week (Shelf Awareness, July 25, 2008), we showcased responses from Casey Coonerty Protti and Diane Van Tassell to the second of our three questions: Is a community bookstore a neutral corner or an advocacy center?
And, once again, other booksellers have joined the conversation.
"My thoughts on the matter start with Casey's last comment, which is spot-on, though not always followed by smart, opinionated indie booksellers," writes Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, events coordinator for McNally Robinson Books (which will become McNally Jackson Books on August 7), New York, N.Y. "It is vital that booksellers do not judge people for their reading tastes, whether it's Ann Coulter or Dan Brown or Michael Moore. Our job is to match books with readers. Part of that we do by recommending books we love to people who might share our tastes, but part of that is also an exercise in empathy with people who do not share our views and tastes--getting inside their heads to give them the book that is going to satisfy them."
Jessica recalls something she learned from Christine Onorati of Word Books, Brooklyn, N.Y., who "pointed out that since most of us want to be booksellers because it's fun for us, we want to be able to stock the books we like. But we also need to stock books that sell. So the smart thing is to open your store in a neighborhood where people are likely to share your tastes. That way you can stock and recommend your loved books to a customer base that's open to them, even needs them. I suspect for many booksellers, that means running a fairly liberal bookstore in a fairly liberal area. This makes the question easier, as good business sense and our own opinions coincide."
Jennifer Moe, general book buyer for Wheaton College Bookstore, Wheaton, Ill., suggests that the independent nature of our business should naturally lead to retail diversity: "People look to bookstores to fill all kinds of needs. There's a place for a niche, progressive store where the customers know exactly what they're going to find when they enter and know that if they need resources for their particular point of view, there's a store that's likely to have them. There's also a place for bookstores that provide for a wide variety of customers. That's the beauty of independent stores!"
But for Don Muller, co-owner of Old Harbor Books, Sitka, Alaska, advocacy is part of the mission, since "for over 32 years, Old Harbor Books has taken strong stands on political issues. We have publicly opposed industrial logging here, in the region and nationally; we've opposed oil drilling in the Arctic; we've opposed a proposed cruise ship dock here; we've opposed regional mining; we've opposed whichever war the U.S. is in at the time. Our selection of books reflects those positions, although we also carry some books from the right, and will special-order anything. Are we 'labeled' in our community? Absolutely. Do some people refuse to shop here? Absolutely. We may be the only bookstore in the country who has had a person chain himself to the bookstore in opposition to my position against the local pulp mill.
"I can't imagine not taking positions in our community. I can't imagine how I would feel about myself if we didn't take positions on important issues. I also think in the long run, our bookstore has profited from taking stands. Most people, I think, on both sides respect us for taking stands. And we have gotten thousands and thousands of dollars of free advertising!"
The issue is complicated. Although Kelley Drahushuk, co-owner of Spotty Dog Books & Ale, Hudson, N.Y., calls her staff "liberal leaning," she adds that "we don't wear our political heart on our sleeve. We don't hang posters in support of candidates, national or local. We don't take public stands as a store on politically hot topics, except the importance of shopping locally and the need for Amazon to play fair and charge sales tax. As a private citizen and business owner, I have the same right as everyone else to say what I feel."
Next week, we'll tackle the last question: What do you think your customers expect from you? Do you worry that some will feel excluded?
Well, do you?--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)