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Galaxy Expands and Drives Around Rural Vermont

Linda Ramsdell, owner of the Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont, is hanging up her bookseller’s hat for a few days and donning both author escort and limo driver’s caps to add a new dimension to New England handselling. The author Ramsdell will escort, from June 30 to July 3, is Michael Crummey (Book Sense 76 Pick River Thieves, Houghton Mifflin), and the limo is her Subaru Impreza.

Sarasota News & Books Reopens After Flood

On June 28, a new and improved Sarasota News & Books in Sarasota, Florida, will reopen after a disastrous plumbing accident on March 27 left the store with extensive structural damage and a complete loss of usable inventory. (For the full story about the flood, click here.)

Warwick's of La Jolla Passes Centenary and Looks Forward to Next 100

The eponymous owners of Warwick’s, the 106-year-old book, gift, and office supply store in La Jolla, California, have run the store for four generations and have no plans to stop. Now a fixture of this affluent beachfront community outside of San Diego, Warwick’s was originally founded in Minnesota in 1896 as a paper goods shop selling books, writing paper, and writing instruments. Founder W.T.

Booksellers Among Those Affected by Colorado Wildfires

Wildfires covered hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado, as approximately 1,800 firefighters from around the country headed to the state to battle blazes that have erupted in severe drought conditions. By Thursday, approximately 90,000 acres in the foothills south of Denver were burning, and officials estimated that over 150,000 acres statewide were affected by a number of fires.

Right Here in Northfield, River City -- A New Trade Bookstore

River City Books of Northfield, Minnesota, open as of March 2002, is a direct descendent of two highly regarded educational institutions in Northfield: Carleton College and St. Olaf College. River City Books is technically a branch of the Carleton College Bookstore, and a close friend of the St. Olaf College Bookstore.

Books on the Square Opens Its Arms to All

Sarah Zacks, owner and founder of Books on the Square in Providence, Rhode Island, remembers the difficulty of toting one or more of her five children to downtown stores with few parking spaces and child-unfriendly sales people. That’s why, when she opened her bookstore 10 years ago, she selected a spot with good parking that was six blocks from the crowded Brown University area and away from the congested downtown.

Olsson's Books & Records to Close Its Georgetown Store

On May 29, Olsson’s Books & Records, an independent book and record store with nine (soon to be eight) branches in the greater Washington, D.C., area, has announced that it will be closing its Georgetown store at the end of June.

Fairhope's Page and Palette, A Utopia for Literary Lovers

In 1894, on a bluff overlooking Mobile Bay, Fairhope, Alabama, was established. It was the dream of Fairhope’s founders to put into practice the utopian ideals of Henry George, who, in his late-19th century work, Progress and Poverty, outlined his philosophy on how a society could evolve without poverty. Some 108 years later, Fairhope (population 12,000), is a thriving artistic and literary community, a tourist attraction, and home to many retirees.

New Boston Area Bookstore to Open May 4

On Saturday, May 4, while booksellers attending BookExpo America at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center are visiting publishers, grabbing advance readers’ copies, and networking, Annie Bauman will be ladling Kool-Aid at the grand opening of Village Books in Roslindale, Massachusetts. The 900-square-foot store is opening in a resolutely independent community midway through its renaissance.

The New Yorker Says 76 Selections Are Bound to Please

The May 6 issue of The New Yorker (on newsstands on April 29) will feature the fifth special Book Sense insert, "Bound to Please: Great Gift Ideas From Your Independent Booksellers." This 14-page special feature will showcase a number of independent booksellers, in both text and pictures, and will share their enthusiastic picks for gift-giving from recent Book Sense 76 selections.

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