The Importance of Independence

At the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St., you are standing in the presence of greatness. Tomorrow, Publishers Weekly—the magazine bible of the publishing industry—will present Frank Kramer, proprietor of Harvard Book Store, with the 2002 Bookseller of the Year award. The ceremony, which is to be held at Book Expo America, conveniently overlaps with Harvard Book Store’s 70th anniversary.

Harvard Book Store was named the best out of the 25 nominees for, among other criteria, its “clarity in mission and vision; expertise in buying for its target markets; innovation; successful events; and business efficiency,” according to publishersweekly.com. Harvard Book Store is well deserving of this distinction. The store holds scores of author events annually, maintains a rich remainders section and offers a great frequent buyer discount plan.

However, despite the independent bookstore’s lengthy legacy and healthy business practices, it is a member of a dying breed. The number of independent bookstores has been on a sharp decline in America for the past 50 years. According to The Business of Books, by Director of the New Press Andre Schiffrin, New York City had 333 independent book stores in 1945. In 2001, there were only 76. According to publishersweekly.com, Harvard Square was recently home to 25 book sellers; now, only five notable stores remain. Evidence of this trend is visible in the soon to be vacated back room of the Lampoon Castle—the Starr Book Shop there will be closed by July.

Poetry lovers fear the closure of Grolier Poetry Book Shop, the United States’ oldest continuously operating poetry bookstore. Faculty members in the English department implore their students to purchase their Yates anthologies and Pinsky collections from the independent bookshop.

Combating this slow extinction of independent bookstores at the hands of chain stores and online book retailers is a serious concern. Chain stores like Barnes & Noble, which runs the Harvard Coop, provide a wide selection of popular titles. However, they rarely offer shelf space for academic titles, lesser known books from smaller publishers or works by unknown authors. Independent bookstores fill this gap and provide a range of titles outside the popular and publicized sphere of the chain store.

The small size and cozy atmosphere of independents helps stimulate relationships between patrons and employees. While chain store staff often remain nameless, working short shifts and lacking continuity, independents’ employees are the owners and managers themselves and are almost always around—a much more familial design. Kramer has been running Harvard Book Store for over 40 years, and he’s not even the store’s oldest employee. Long-term employees of Harvard Book Store share in the company’s profits, and the store negotiates with unions without the aid of lawyers—signs of true cooperation and long-lasting relationships. These employees can, and do, forge tight bonds with Cambridge residents and Harvard students.

While Amazon.com can offer recommendations based on previous purchases, a human being—potentially a friend—can discuss authors with a customer, provide guidance in his book selection or recommend a title from a genre outside of his past purchases—because she knows him well enough to know he’ll like it.

Harvard Book Store is a prime example of what an independent bookstore can and should be. As consumers, we must recognize the importance of the independents in providing a service to our community. We should congratulate Frank Kramer and thank Harvard Book Store the way that consumers do best—buying ourselves some books.