Sarasota News and Books

All across America, independent booksellers keep the spirit of the free presses alive. While selling books of all kinds, these stores manage to make a name for themselves in the way that larger franchises can’t.

• City Lights (San Francisco, California): City Lights was founded in 1953 by Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The building used to be a religious revival center, but under Ferlinghetti’s hand became known as a meeting place of off-beat literary icons. Today, the seller also functions as a publisher, with Ferlinghetti still playing a leading role.
• Powell’s Books (Portland, Oregon): Powell’s is an independent chain with its headquarters rumored to be the largest independent bookstore in the world. The original Portland location was founded in 1971. You can find “new, used, and rare books” at the store and its online site, where you can also enter contests and read reviews.
• Tattered Cover Book Store (Denver, Colorado): Open 7 days a week, the Tattered Cover is Denver’s literary center, with a size rivaling Powell’s. Signings and readings are scheduled regularly. The bookstore offers a generous service for people unable to attend these events, in which the store will get a book signed and/or personalized and then hold or mail it to the customer.
• Prairie Lights (Iowa City, Iowa): This historical 4-story building features three-and-a-half stories of books (80,000 to 100,000 at any given time) as well as a half-story coffee shop. You can order online, but it’s worth checking out the physical location, which is designed as a human face. Obama visited this shop back in March.
• Strand Book Store (New York City, New York): One of the oldest independent bookstores, Strand opened back in 1927 and has operated continuously since then. Besides covering 55,000 square feet, the shop employs over 200 workers. In the ’70s, this group included punk rockers Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine.