 |
|
| From l.: Dylan Brown, Skylight Books, Los Angeles; Lyn Roberts, Square Books, Oxford, Miss.; Adam Sonderberg, Seminary Co-op, Chicago; and ABA CEO Oren Teicher. | |
At the European and International Booksellers Federation conference yesterday morning at the Frankfurt Book Fair, three Bookselling Without Borders scholarship winners shared insights from their home stores and impressions of the book fair so far. American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher moderated the discussion.
Dylan Brown, bookseller at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, Calif., reported that one of the things Skylight does differently is the amount of leeway that booksellers are given over managing the store's "eccentric online presence" and social media accounts. The genuine, bookseller-driven approach, he said, helps the store bridge the gap between what goes on in the bookstore and the broader online world. Brown said that one of his goals while attending the fair was to do some research into broadening the store's foreign-language selections, and that he was struck by the way the books were emphasized as art objects. He explained: "I think that's one thing that online opportunities can't really get across--how beautiful and majestic a book can actually be at times."
On the subject of what the store is doing to attract younger booksellers, Brown noted that many of the younger staff members at Skylight are artists, writers or musicians on the side. He attributed part of it as probably due to the economic reality of there being a lot of young people looking for work, and another part to the fact that young, working artists "generally seem to have the right mindset for working in a bookstore, especially one that carries as wide variety of titles as we do."
Scholarship winner Lyn Roberts, general manager of Square Books in Oxford, Miss., emphasized the deep connections that the store has built with both the Oxford community and many of the tourists who visit. Square Books-branded T-shirts and tote bags are popular with both groups, and that "helps us keep selling them books." The store hosts some 160 events each year and has run a subscription service since 1992, which she described as a great way of having an "ongoing relationship" with customers anywhere. She recalled an interview with the owner of a vinyl record store in Austin, Tex., called Waterloo, in which the owner said that he was an anachronism and planned on going down with that ship. Roberts said: "And that's how I feel--we're in real books, we're interested in technology... but we try to keep focused on that we're booksellers."
When asked about the notion that the future of retail is entertainment, Roberts noted that entertainment "doesn't necessarily mean somebody presenting something." People often go shopping as entertainment, and in those instances the shop simply needs to provide the merchandise and the right setting. "So I think having a good environment where people can shop and look at books and browse, that has some entertainment value," she said.
Adam Sonderberg, manager of The Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Chicago, Ill., explained that while Seminary Co-op is not an official part of the University of Chicago, it does supply books for the school and is one of the largest academic bookstores in the U.S. Unlike other college stores, he said, Seminary Co-op keeps course titles stocked on the shelves year-round and increases the volume of stock at the start of each quarter. Sonderberg also pointed out that the way the store handles backlist is unusual: compared to most general-interest bookstores, Seminary Co-Op will keep backlist titles on the shelves for an extremely long time--Sonderberg said that just the other day, the store sold a book that had been on the shelf for 13 years. "Obviously from a business perspective, that's absolutely the dumbest thing imaginable," he remarked, but for a store that views itself as a "cultural institution," it makes sense, and staff members will seriously consider reordering that book that didn't sell for years.
Sonderberg reported that he and his colleagues were very interested in creating a professional, career booksellers class, and Seminary Co-op tries to do that through "very aggressive cross-training" and giving staff "myriad opportunities" to get involved with all aspects of the business. "Basically we attract people by doing what we do and putting ourselves out there," he said. "Creating the conditions functions as a magnet." --Alex Mutter
[Editor's note: Bookselling Without Borders is currently running a Kickstarter campaign with some unusual rewards to raise money to expand next year's program.]