Our reporter travels the area for locally owned shops offering good reads
By Emily Buehler
By now, the reasons to shop at locally owned businesses are ingrained in our heads: keep money in the community, don’t contribute to the sprawl of box-store shopping centers, maintain the uniqueness of our town centers. Buying books at locally owned bookstores has additional importance: Independent bookstores can sell small-run, self-published or locally produced books – books that might not sell a lot of copies and are therefore not worthwhile to the big guys. A friend at a major NYC publishing house told me her company actually looks to the big guys, since most sales come from them; if Barnes and Noble won’t sell it, they don’t publish it. So in addition to profiting off our community, the big stores have a major role in which ideas are available to us.
Buying items from local businesses feels good. Your money is going to one of your neighbors and back into your own community. And local bookstores have unique identities. Get to know one today.
Top Picks:
Brick Alley Books
121 N. Churton St.
Hillsborough
245-0062, 245-1127
Order online by emailing tryon.publishing@earthlink.net
Monday–Saturday 10am–5pm
Brick Alley Books is no longer on the quiet brick alley off Churton Street in downtown Hillsborough; now it’s in the back of the gift shop in the historic downtown’s old mercantile building. With a modest amount of space, owner Julia Williams manages to have a cooking section, a North Carolina section and a wall of children’s books. Unlike conventional bookstore shelving practices, most of the books face out, making them easy to browse. Ample shelf space is given to works by local authors. The recently added used-book section doesn’t appeal to my love of trashy paperbacks, but would send my Dad into the throes of old-musty-book ecstasy.
My favorite part of going into the store is that, most of the week, Julia is behind the counter. This isn’t one of those look-over-your-shoulder salesperson experiences, just a friendly, “Hello. Let me know if you need anything.†When I go in to place a special order, Julia always knows exactly what book I’m talking about; she takes satisfaction in giving personal service and recommendations.
While it’s never crowded, there’s always someone browsing around when I’m in Brick Alley Books. Stop to chat with Julia, and you may find yourself meeting one of the local authors!
Market Street Books at Arts & Letters Community Center
610 Market St. (Southern Village)
933-5111 marketstreetbooks.com
Monday–Thursday 9am–8pm, Friday–Saturday 9am– 9pm, Sunday 11am–7pm
I first fell in love with Market Street Books years ago when I needed a state map for biking purposes. Since then, owner (now director) Katherine Henderson has moved the store to a bigger location and turned it into a nonprofit arts-oriented community center.
The store feels like an airy studio, full of light and color. Books reside on portable shelves that might begin moving like the staircases at Hogwarts. Between the shelves are open spaces: a theater-like area for events, with a piano at one side, and a children’s section that’s entered through the doorway of a giant red playhouse. An adult-sized doorway leads to Sweet, the newsstand and candy shop in back. Sweet is being redesigned and soon will have a wall of greeting cards and comic books. I’m happy to see they still stock North Carolina maps, including the detailed regional ones I used for biking.
While it’s a full-service bookstore, it offers much more: classes, performances, author readings, monthly art openings and other events. Regular events include Pajama Storytime (3rd Friday), American Girls Parties (2nd Friday), Poetry Open Mic (1st Thursday, 3rd Tuesday), a folk-singing circle (3rd Monday) and T’ai Chi class (Monday mornings). In the summertime, there’s a shift from author readings to Hats Off (Children’s) Theater Company’s classes and performances.
Bull’s Head Bookshop
UNC Campus
962-5060
Monday–Friday 7:30am–7pm, Saturday 10am–6pm, Sunday 1am–6pm (Hours change with university schedule.)
Of all the local shops, the Bull’s Head looks the most like a typical bookstore. But there’s one important difference: Every book looks interesting. It’s fitting that a university bookstore should feel intelligent and up to date. There’s a rack of political books, split into two sides, “left†and “right.†Two shelves are devoted to “Food Studiesâ€; not nutrition, but rather food’s meaning and place in our society. There’s a cart of books on green living, a table of works by faculty members, a rack of Dover thrift editions and another of Oxford short introductions (Buddhist ethics, for example, or postmodernism). There are graphic novels and editions of Harry Potter in numerous languages and an extensive young adult section.
The items clustered around the register strike me as unique to this bookstore: There’s a box of Fair Trade chocolate bars, a bin of rubbery monster finger puppets, a new paperback of The Princess Bride, hardcover copies of El Gato Garabato and a rack of toys including the infamous “pig catapult.â€
Internationalist Books and Community Center
405 W. Franklin St.
942 1740
internationalistbooks.org
Monday–Saturday 11am–8pm, Sunday 12 noon–6pm
There are many phrases used to describe the Internationalist, like “volunteer-run collective,†“progressive community center†and “community-owned co-op.†For years, the store has been a place that connects local activists, a place to hang out and share ideas. At other stores, I might be skeptical of a claim to welcome people hanging out, not buying anything; but at the Internationalist, I believe it. After all, these are the folks who celebrate Buy Nothing Day (the Friday after Thanksgiving) every year by refusing to sell anything.
Depending on your political leanings, entering “I-Books†can feel anywhere from homey to frightening. Not being much of an activist, I was intimidated by the place for years. What finally drove me in was my desire for a Nikki McClure calendar. These calendars, featuring the cut-paper artwork of the Washington state artist, typify the kinds of things you’ll find at the Internationalist – they’re produced by a small business; printed on recycled papers; and have a strong, enlightened message. They’re also not available at your average bookstore. The Internationalist stocks books from small presses and books that support alternative ideas, self-published zines, intriguing artwork on calendars and posters and fun bumper stickers. Browse for a minute and you’re certain to learn about something new. The small space is set up to accommodate sitting to read; it frequently gets rearranged for author readings, film showings, workshops, meetings and other events, all open to the public. Co-op memberships are $20/year; benefits include a discount and a role in decision-making.