Public Radio Station Hosts Roundtable of Independent Booksellers

How can a regional public radio station that covers parts of seven northeastern states, including New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Hampshire, offer local coverage for listeners in very different communities? WAMC/Northeast Public Radio's Susan Arbetter began, in May of 2000, by inviting veteran bookseller Susan Novotny of Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, New York, to spend about 15 minutes a week, recommending a few of her favorite new books on a daily morning variety program called "The RoundTable." Arbetter, who produces and co-hosts the show, added The Bookloft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts. After another few months, she added the Merritt Bookstores, Volumes I and II, in Millbrook and Red Hook, New York. All are Book Sense stores.

Arbetter told BTW, "In order to localize our coverage, I wanted the show to touch individual towns within the coverage area. We could do that by inviting their local bookstores. Barnes & Noble and Borders are wonderful bookstores, but their presence is quickly taking over the business of 'the corner bookstore.' Also, since we are an independent radio station, I thought it was important to support independent booksellers."

Has the program been a success? Arbetter said, "Since 'The RoundTable' has been on the air, WAMC's listenership has increased 65 percent in that time slot. Anecdotally, people tell me it's their favorite show."

The three-hour program, co-hosted by WAMC News Director Joe Donahue, airs the bookseller segment each Tuesday morning, after the 10:00 a.m. newsbreak. Someone from the staff of one of the four stores comes to the studio and offers a live commentary about new or noteworthy books. Arbetter and Donahue squeeze around the painfully small "roundtable" with the books and the bookseller, and allow the guest to speak about the books as much as time permits.

At the Book House, Novotny recalls that about three years ago, she was invited to bring four or five books weekly that "were exciting to me" and talk about them for 15 to 20 minutes on the air. After a few weeks and realizing how time-consuming the spots were, she began alternating with a bookseller on her staff, Marggie Skinner. With the introduction of the three other bookstores, Novotny and Skinner now alternate monthly.

"We take the philosophical approach that books we personally love will be of interest to listeners," Novotny explained. "We shy away from obvious bestsellers. We tend toward quirky, idiosyncratic books, frequently political…. We often look for inspiration at the Book Sense 76."

Novotny and the other regular bookseller/hosts interviewed by BTW-- Scott Meyer of Merritt Bookstores and Neil Novik of The Odyssey Bookshop -- sometimes group books according to themes based on holidays or current events, but often they bring an eclectic collection of the books they, or someone on their staff, feels passionately about. Novik, or his business partner Joan Grenier, who alternate appearances, finds picks on the 76 lists as well. "If it is, we always say it was a 76 pick. We also do a lot of events and will promote the book of an author appearing in the store. Susan [Arbetter] encourages us to tie books in with current store promotions. I'm the only one who reads a lot of mysteries and brings them in. One July, I brought in 10 mass market mysteries/thrillers to talk about very briefly for summer reading, " Novik said.

Merritt's Meyer was delighted to be asked to appear on the show, but not enough to overcome his initial fear "as a country boy" from Millbrook, New York, to drive to "Albany, the big city." He participated on his first show by telephone, talking "straight for 15 minutes without taking a breath." After two-and-a-half years on the show, he now joins Arbetter and Donahue in the studio with his unique selection of books.

"I try not to talk about bestsellers or ones that are already well known unless I have a passion for it, but instead try to unearth some new books or ideas to share," Meyer explained. "I often talk about time -- the building of time machines and clocks, or science and the environment; numbers are fun to talk about, and for a while we had a duck theme going with duck calls, kazoos, and hats [lagniappe from sales reps].

"During the war in Iraq, Susan [Arbetter] asked me to tailor my selections for the week to books about Iraq. I didn't feel comfortable on the subject so instead I approached the subject historically and ecologically."

A partial list of Meyer's picks for that week, March 25, reflect the unusual scope of his presentation: Tigris and Euphrates River by Melissa Whitcraft; History of Archaeology by John Romer; Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles by Anthony Swofford; When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature by Thomas Merton; Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson by Amy Ehrlich, illustrated by Wendell Minor; One World, Many Religions by Mary Pope Osborne; and If the World Were a Village: A Book About the World's People by David J. Smith. "That show got the most e-mail and telephone calls, and I had people waiting at the store to talk with me and thank me," he said.

"We all have different styles and tastes," Novotny said. "That adds variety to each segment. We always check to be sure we're not duplicating someone else's picks and occasionally one bookseller will have to pick a different title." WAMC keeps a listing of all the recommended books by each bookseller and store on its Web site at www.wamc.org/bookpicks.html, along with links to each of the bookstores.

Each bookseller, while unable to determine if the radio appearances translate into sales, is very positive about their participation. Novotny, whose Albany location grants her the largest segment of WAMC's audience, is very pleased with the results of the shows.

"We always get phone calls [about the books mentioned on the show]. Many people want a copy of one of the books. We've gotten calls from Borders and Barnes & Noble asking what the exact title was on the radio show. It's been such a wonderful opportunity for us in the Northeast, Novotny said. "My recommendation to booksellers in other areas would be to approach their local NPR station, particularly if the store underwrites its programs. Tell them 'I'd be willing to come in and do a song and dance about books.' It's a great pitch because public radio stations are often looking for free programming."

Novik also receives calls and e-mails about the shows: "Importantly, it gets our name out, and it shows support for the independent booksellers."

A secondary gain for Meyer has been his attainment of some local celebrity. "When I first started on WAMC, people said I had a radio voice, and I was very concerned thinking that my voice faded in and out or had static in it," Meyer said. "Susan [Arbetter] then told me it was good to have a radio voice. Now I get recognized for my voice. I can be out to supper with my family and people will come over and say 'are you ...?' or 'we love hearing you.' I enjoy doing the show very much. The whole WAMC staff, Susan, and Joe, are very professional and a lot of fun to work with. I find doing the show makes me focus on the books we have or should have -- I often have trouble picking because there are so many things I want to talk about. I get very enthusiastic and excited about the books and the people I talk about. People can tell that." -- Nomi Schwartz