The Right Fit: Books-A-Million Thrives in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

With the ever changing market of the capitalistic society we have today, it can sometimes be hard to appeal to the right crowd and to maintain that attraction as time goes on and trends change. Books-A-Million, however, seems to have found the ideal place, and the right use of their products to keep up a consistent crowd, whether it’s new customers or those returning. How then, does a smaller BAM store in a failing mall along a major highway manage this?

The official Books-A-Million logo, most often referred to as BAM!

Books-A-Million started as a newspaper stand in 1917, and has been growing ever since. Just that tidbit of information about their humble beginnings tells you something about the company and the people who run it– it has never been about the books. The founder of that newspaper stand expanded to magazines and then books, following the money at the time, and then they found their place among national book retailers.

Since BAM rebranded as a major chain store in 1964, their main focus has been to find the right merchandise to sell to the right crowd (like any other corporate company). However, each store has been given the freedom to alter their cookie cutter stock and layout in minor ways that appeal more to wherever they are located. This goes against what Jack Perry says about corporate book stores, stating that chain stores has a sameness about them in both appearance and stock, but it does agree with his idea that corporate stores have a much broader stock  than independent stores.(109) Having this bookstore in the mall seems almost intimidating, as it has outlived several other stores and is now one of the major staples of the Susquehanna Valley Mall (SVM). 

The store moved to the SVM in 2011, after Books-A-Million bought store space from the bankrupted Waldenbooks. At the time, the mall was more of a bustling hub, someplace to go after school or if you needed to go shopping. Since then, many of those stores have closed, leaving only the original Boscov’s anchor and a few other stores, which are closing at an alarming rate. And yet, Books-A-Million seems to be doing just fine, holding its place in the mall like the Waldenbooks before it.

Books-A-Million in the Susquehanna Valley Mall.

According to Tim Cresswell, a place that is only interested in making money can affect the areas sense of ‘self’, or the areas identity as a whole (59). So why does this BAM store seem to be the pride of the mall and the go-to store if it should be seen as negative and identity altering? It is because they are allowed that little freedom of changing layouts and stocks to appeal to the crowd they deem the best to appeal to. How can a corporate store be scary if it is carrying some of the best sellers for high school students and some of the most engaging stories for college students that actually have free time?

Selinsgrove has been a college town since Susquehanna University was established in 1858, so a good portion of the population has been young people for more than a hundred years. Along with college students, the town is home to many young families (Claritas). Between these two demographics, the identity of Selinsgrove has become one of children and young adults. Books-A-Million has noticed this formation of identity and in the last ten years has altered their stock, floorplan, and display to draw people in from the large customer base of people aged one to twenty-five.

The neverending shelves of books to choose from at Books-A-Million in the Susquehanna Valley Mall.

Psychographic statistics also show that the Susquehanna Valley has historically been home to a lot of lower middle class to lower income families (Claritas). These families are full of people working multiple jobs, picking kids up from after school activities, and rushing home to get dinner ready, so they want a speedy and inexpensive shopping trip, or else something to keep their children occupied while they pick up a pair of shoes or an item of clothing from elsewhere in the mall. In both cases, BAM has spent the past few years engineering their store to optimize appeal to the families that frequent the SVM and who might be in need of a new bedtime book or the latest Rick Riordan book.

Books-A-Million has found the perfect medium for bringing in as much profit as they can, they adhere to trends and offer titles and other products that are appealing to the locals, and they found a location that has the most traffic for the best chance of attracting customers (the only mall for quite a while). The history of BAM growing as a store, to eventually becoming a chain bookstore and turning corporate has influenced how it views literature and how literature influences the store. The changing economy and trends has shaped it into what it is today, a store that seeks the most money possible by presenting itself as a very warm, friendly, and up to date kind of store where there is something for everyone. It may not be as sincere or friendly as independent bookstores, but to many in the area, it just works.

 

Established in 1978, the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania offers over 50 stores and services to areas within a 45-mile radius. Located on along the side of the North Susquehanna Trail and across from a Walmart Supercenter, the mall is in a prime spot for business. The neighborhood thrums with nearly 5,500 Selinsgrove residents, and that number grows by roughly 2,266 Susquehanna University undergraduate students and any parents or relatives that may visit during the school year. With the additional bonus of a highway location, the mall gets traffic from towns including Sunbury, Lewisburg, and as far as Harrisburg.

According to the Population Demographics for Selinsgrove Borough, in 2018 and 2019 the Selinsgrove population consisted of mainly white residence of 50 years or older and college students (18-25). Though there are many well-to-do college students not represented here, low wages and low education levels could put a strain on book buying. So, you may be asking yourself, how is it that Books-A-Million is still able to draw in customers and make enough sales to stay afloat?

In Reluctant Capitalists, Laura Miller discusses how convenient it is to have a bookstore in the mall. She goes on to state that corporate chain bookstores want everyone to feel welcomed and have shifted the image of the bookstore to one that is more entertainment-based (90). Books-A-Million is in a prime location for the Selinsgrove area; the Susquehanna Valley Mall is down the road from multiple strip malls, is less than fifteen minutes away from Susquehanna University and the Selinsgrove middle and high schools, and is surrounded by a handful of restaurants (see Google Map). If this Books-A-Million were anywhere else in Selinsgrove in their own building, they would not have as many customers because people would not be simply passing by. Rather, the bulk of the customers would have to plan to make a trip into the store. Time will tell for BAM as the stores in the Susquehanna Valley keep dwindling. It seems like Books-A-Million chose the right location to appease the area.

The Susquehanna Valley Mall of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

The customers for the surrounding shopping centers are the same audience that Books-A-Million receives as well. Compared to local independent bookstores like DJ Ernst, Mondragon, Bible Depot, and Comics Metropolis, Books-A-Million offers the individual consumer experience. While browsing around independent bookstores, customers are generally surrounded by numerous books that fall into categories they might be interested in, as many local bookstores are quite niche. A customer also may get the chance to talk to the shop owner and get insight and suggestions that are meaningful and part of the reason they love to shop for books so much. When shopping around BAM, you are browsing around a store that may only have a shelf or two of your favorite genre, and you are essentially shopping on your own. BAM provides modern shoppers with a quick, painless shopping experience akin to online retailing with stock the consumer needs and no pointless chitchat.

When you walk around BAM, you are surrounded by titles pertaining to every imaginable subject. In other words, is seems BAM does not have an identified genre. Rather, it carries titles of all subjects to draw in a wide variety of customers. After all, BAM is a corporate chain, and ultimately strives to make as many sales as possible. The sales are one of the ways that helps keep BAM afloat. The bookstore adjusted its prices to fit those of the Selinsgrove area, which is that of a middle- to lower-class income. The sales racks are near the entrance to catch the eye of a passerby and red stickers showing price cuts can be seen peeking out from shelves all around the store.

Look at all of the fun books and toys to choose from!

After seeing the changes that Selinsgrove has undergone over the past twenty years, I can remember when BAM moved into the mall. Prior to Books-A-Million, the store occupying that space was another bookstore called Waldenbooks. The Waldenbooks was also a corporate chain bookstore that was very similar to Books-A-Million. It seemed that not much changed when the ownership changed hands except for the sign out front. BAM brought in more trinket items, a slightly different layout to the same genres, and a new name. Other than that, it seemed as though there was no real changes to the space that is still standing. The culture surrounding the bookstore has not changed. The population of Selinsgrove remains around the same number and is still primarily white. Susquehanna University still plays a huge role in making the general age of the population 18-25. So, even though the culture of Selinsgrove plays a role in the fate of the bookstore, it had remained the same over the years. So, we are left with a question that can only be answered through time, will BAM withstand the test of time?

Based on Laura Miller’s study on book selling, BAM has simply found the right environment to sell books in (40). Books-A-Million also has the advantage of appealing to younger shoppers due to being up to date on the latest fads and trends. As seen on our Google Map, the Selinsgrove area Middle school and High school are less than twenty minutes away. Parents and friends bring in these young shoppers, whom may be drawn in by the decorative display of the new Harry Potter books and trinkets. This is something you probably will not find in the independent bookstores.

Considering the state of the Susquehanna Valley Mall in which Books-A-Million resides, with vendors shutting down left and right due to economic struggles, it’s a wonder that BAM still thrives under such unideal circumstances. There are plenty of other options for readers to find what they’re looking for. Selinsgrove sports Super Stores like Target and Walmart and aesthetic independents like DJ Ernst on Market Street; for the Susquehanna University students of the area, it may be easier to order a book online or visit the library rather than go to this little corporate book vendor. However, Books-A-Million has continued to thrive since its opening in 2011 and shows no signs of shutting down despite the nature of its surroundings. What makes Books-A-Million such an ideal bookstore for Selinsgrove’s readers?  

Books-A-Million’s success comes down to its unique market of readers. Let’s refer back to the demographics of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Susquehanna University and the Selinsgrove Area School District make for quite a large population of young adults (18-30 years old) and budding families. These young students and parents are exactly who Books-A-Million and the corporate bookstore are built to accommodate. Corporate bookstores run with convenience, entertainment, and bargains in mind with mass merchandise, marked-down prices, and an array of flashy displays arranged in every chain (Miller 92). For families and students, Books-A-Million is the place to go for the books and entertainment they need cheap and fast. Not only that, but Books-A-Million easily makes the bookstore experience a family friendly event. While children immerse themselves in toys and merchandise that represent their favorite stories, teens and adults have a wide selection of best sellers, fantasy novels, and sci-fi trilogies to choose from.  

Walking around the Books-A-Million of Selinsgrove, these characteristics are absolutely apparent. This store’s stock and layout are catered to the young demographic, with young adult novels, fan merch, and children’s books brought right to the front. The store windows are filled with literature and merchandise meant for young ones while everything that doesn’t fall into these categories is pushed toward the back of the store. Even the Newstand is built to draw in young people; magazines such as Seventeen and Tiger Beat are displayed before any sort of newspapers and editorials. Take a look at this interactive floorplan to see how Books-A-Million strategically brings in Selinsgrove’s young readers and their families.

As long as Selinsgrove’s young readers have a need for literature, Books-A-Million will live on in the Susquehanna Valley Mall. Because Books-A-Million is a corporate bookstore, it can easily adjust its stock to meet the wants and needs of the population it serves, lower its prices without much consequence to their business, and use marketing tactics to attract book consumers in the area. For example, Susquehanna University college students are often in need of specific novels and textbooks for their classes. If a student isn’t able to get a needed book from their campus bookstore, the next place to look would be this Books-A-Million store. They are likely to have the exact book in store for cheaper than the original sticker price or on their website to be shipped the next day. This is an instance where going to an independent bookstore or superstore would risk not having the right book in stock or being outside of the student’s budget.

Books-A-Million has more than just books… it has all sorts of merchandise to enhance your reading experience.

It’s no surprise Books-A-Million has outlasted the other stores in the mall. The bookstore continues to appease to their target audience through convenience, deals, and overall merchandise. There is little to no doubt that the Books-A-Million in Selinsgrove is around to stay. However, there is much to debate on if they will remain in the Susquehanna Valley Mall. According to the Daily Item in 2018, a Women’s Health Care Center was rumored to take the former Sears building.

In their most recent article, the Daily Item stated, “The mall will be placed on the sheriff’s sale listing for Aug. 9.” Although August is still a few months away, there are still plenty of questions to ponder. What will happen to Books-A-Million? The chain bookstore may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s stability throughout the years proved that some people prefer coffee instead. We are left with two future outcomes: Will Books-A-Million suffer the same fate as the mall? Or would the bookstore branch off into its own building and continue to thrive in Selinsgrove?

 

 

Sources  

Books:

  • Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Web Sources and Periodicals: 

  • Cresswell, Tim. Place: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2015.
  • mmoore@dailyitem.com, Marcia Moore. “Fall Start for Health Center Conversion at Former Sears Building.” The Daily Item, 29 Aug. 2018, www.dailyitem.com/news/local_news/fall-start-for-health-center-conversion-at-former-sears-building/article_ddaddc41-bfca-5b40-aba9-1c7f788a6f79.html.
  • Moore, Marcia. “UPDATE Boscov’s CEO: ‘We’re Not Going Anywhere’.” The Daily Item, 6 May 2019, www.dailyitem.com/news/update-boscov-s-ceo-we-re-not-going-anywhere/article_a6c18276-7011-11e9-a6af-c30fc4f8675f.html.
  • Perry, Jack, “Bibliophilia: Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist.” The American Scholar, vol. 55, no. 1, 1986, pp.107-111. www.jstor.org/stable/41211294.
  • “PRIZM® PREMIER Psycographic Zip Code Lookup.” Claritas, 2019. claritas360.claritas.com/mybestsegments/#zipLookup.
  • Suburbanstats.org. “Current Selinsgrove Borough, Pennsylvania Population, Demographics and Stats in 2019, 2018.” SuburbanStats.org, suburbanstats.org/population/pennsylvania/how-many-people-live-in-selinsgrove-borough.

Media: 

  • Google Maps: Susquehanna Valley Mall & surrounding attractions.
  • Timeline: The History of Books-A-Million in the Susquehanna Valley Mall
  • ThingLink: Books-A-Million Floorplan
  • Books-A-Million Logo: http://www.greentreemall.com/store/booksamillion
  • Susquehanna Valley Mall Image: http://www.wkok.com/susquehanna-valley-mall-could-be-heading-for-sheriffs-sale/
  • All other photos taken by Benjamin Adelberg and Sarah Fluke

Bible Depot Helps Them That Help Themselves

With its vibrant blue exterior, Bible Depot catches the eye of passing visitors and locals alike. Well, the paint job isn’t the most eye-catching aspect of the outside of the store, not when ‘Bible Depot” is sprawled, with large white letters, across the side of the building that faces out onto Front Street. Though, its old yellow façade might have been more intriguing to the eye but more crowded aesthetically. Its doors have been open for going on 88 years, having opened in 1931 originally on Main Street but then moving in the early 1940s to where it is now on Front Street. Sunbury is not a particularly wealthy town, with the median household income averaging around $32,000, according to the Data USA (Data USA). But the amount of businesses on the main road is telling that businesses still thrive in this area.

Another large part of Sunbury is the community of churches, there are many Christian churches, as well as other places of worship in the area surrounding the bookstore. This store, everything it has done for the community, all of it, started with little bibles handed out by the Reverend who founded the store. And then, when the WKOK-AM radio station went on the air in 1933, Reverend Ney appeared every week to advertise for the store.

Shortly after Nancy assumed ownership in 1970, pastors from the local churches came into the store and threatened to boycott Bible Depot for carrying a controversial chick tract – a short evangelical gospel tract. Nancy said she spent a lot of time debating about whether to discontinue the chick tract or to continue to sell it and after a lot of praying she decided not to carry the chick tract anymore. The store was never actually boycotted, but this is a particularly outstanding instance of discomfort between the store and the community. But this store has built a strong community, one that has grown through the hardships of area floods and local controversy. This store has become a staple within Sunbury, a true symbol representing the community of which it is a part. Bible Depot tells us a story through its history from its simple beginnings with Reverend Ney handing out Bibles door to door to Nancy’s current ownership of this treasure hunt of a store.

The store controls its own narrative by the way it is set up to appease its customers. This store has become particularly significant as it is not only a store, but a home to its owner. Bible Depot represents an inspiring tale of small business culture through how a tiny, family-run bookstore became what it is today. All the customers who enter the store are welcomed graciously and are considered to be a part of that family. One of the most important things about Bible Depot is how accepting it is of a diversity of religious backgrounds and all walks of life. It is a place that is constantly changing, not necessarily always in terms of its physical appearance, but because of the people that visit and shape the store into the place that it is and the role it plays within the Sunbury community.

 

Our experiences visiting Bible Depot gave us a lot of insight into the type of identity and mission the store is trying to project. As you walk through the store, you are fully immersed in a collection that has been carefully curated by Nancy Ney to reflect not only her personal interests, but the interests of everyone in Sunbury and the surrounding community. Tim Cresswell helps us to understand Bible Depot as it is immersed in this community not just as a space, but as a place – a meaningful location defined by its physical location, its local and its sense of place (Cresswell). Using the historical contrasting ideas of place, mentioned by Laura Miller, as reactionary and exclusionary and as open and progressive (constantly contingent and in flux) it seems that somehow, Bible Depot fits both of these descriptors.

Bible Depot functions as a gathering place – a place for anyone to congregate and commune within a “family” setting. When we look at the world as a world of places we see “attachments and connections between people and place. We see worlds of meaning and experience” (Cresswell 11). Bible Depot is an oasis in which a world of meaning and experience has been created within its walls. Nancy herself told us that Bible Depot is a place full of miracles, a place where people may not necessarily come in to buy things but might just come in to have a seat and have someone to talk to, to comfort them and to give them a coffee. She claims that it’s a people place and that “we’re here to bless others with the blessings God has given to us and when we see a need, we ask God for guidance and we pray for people and try to give them guidance.” This home-like quality of Bible Depot establishes it as not only a store where customers come to purchase things they may need or want, but as an actual “place,” a gathering, a community.

Bible Depot is greatly defined by its history, its owner, and its customers, but the one thing around which all these influences is centered is the collection housed within the store. The diversity and seemingly chaotic nature of the collection is at first a little confusing to visitors to the store. However, the more you examine the way the collection is structured, you begin to see that it is, in fact, a type of organized chaos and that everything has been carefully selected and placed exactly where it is meant to be.

To understand the store’s collection, you first have to appreciate its definition of literature. To do this, you have to have a firm grasp on the concept of self-care. There is a common misconception that self-care is a very individualized process, only applicable or usable by one person for themself. However, the term itself implies some entity taking care of itself; this could be an individual or even a community. In the case of Bible Depot, the definition of literature endorses a narrative of self-care both at the individual and the community level. Because Nancy Ney has created a collection with the interests of her community in mind, her collection acts as self-care for that entire community. We can see this literature of self-care on the individual level through the books in the “main” book room, housing books on divorce, prayer, counseling, etc. Yet on the other side of the store, there is a room we frequently call the “children’s room,” containing anything from posters and board games to Sunday school supplies, activity books, sheet music, stickers, and more. It seems, at first, difficult to fit this room into the store’s literature as defined by self-care. However, this seems to be a room that subscribes more to the idea of community self-care. This room provides customers with ways to better their community either through music, through fellowship and games, or through sharing religion with children. Furthermore, in the front room in which the cash register sits, there are many display cases of jewelry and other trinkets of either something symbolically religious or engraved with a scripture verse. These, too, fit into the narrative of self-care as those who purchase these items are seeking to carry a piece of reassurance and hope with them, close to their hearts wherever they go.

It is true that Bible Depot is filled with many “things,” but these things are more than just mere objects lined up along shelves. In the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a group of Hogwarts students, who lovingly call themselves Dumbledore’s Army, come across a room known as the “Room of Requirement.” This room somehow knows what its visitors need and upon entering the room, anything and everything someone needs is readily available within its stone walls. Sometimes more than one person may need the same thing and the room will adapt to those needs. All one has to do to make the room appear is walk past the section of blank wall three times concentrating very deeply on what they need. Bible Depot is, in a way, a Room of Requirement for the Susquehanna Valley community. Because the store provides self-help to both the individual and the community it holds anything and everything someone might neeed and specifically holds the things that people may not even know they need, but should have, whether that’s children or adults. It’s like a scavenger hunt resource room just waiting to be discovered by those who need it.

It is very difficult to walk into Bible Depot and not immediately feel imbued with the spirit and attitude with which the store is so heavily infused. While visitors to the store are, yes, surrounded by objects, they are also surrounded by “things.” Bruno Latour tells us that when we have little investment in something we are more likely to view things as mere objects and not as these multidimensional “things.” Though all the objects in the store have a monetary value assigned to them, they also have an inherent spiritual and personal value. Nancy Ney views all the objects in her store as “things” and has ascribed so much meaning and attachment to each thing that this kind of connection is therefore encouraged in every customer who walks through her doors. The contents of the store, as well as the store itself, are not mere tools, but are necessarily things that can provide fulfillment, enrichment, and meaning to our lives.

In Philipp Bloom’s book To Have and to Hold, he explains that “by surrounding ourselves with objects we hope to immerse ourselves in what is represented by them, with what they represent to us who are unwilling to accept that it will always remain elusive and cannot be locked into things” (Bloom 156). Here we see that Bloom has a bit of a different definition of “things” from Latour, one that probably aligns more closely to Latour’s conception of objects. However, Bloom’s idea is still valid. It is often not easy to distill the meaning of objects and therefore we must make the conscious effort to immerse ourselves in what is represented by them. Likewise, we must also examine what these objects represent to us though these representations may sometimes seem elusive and difficult to decipher.

This idea very much reflects our experience getting to know Bible Depot. At first it was exceedingly difficult to understand the meaning or purpose of any of the objects individually and consequently the message of the store and everything it stands for. But to find the answer, one need look no further than the heart of the store itself – the Bible Room. This room is the most important “place” in the store and is also home to the most important ”thing” in the store. The Bible Room is quite literally the heart of the bookstore situated just between Nancy’s home and the store around it. It is representative of the origins of Bible Depot and all the history that has accompanied it, as well as being the store’s namesake. When we consider all the ways in which Bible Depot is a gathering, a collection of “things” and a place in which literature is understood as a self-conscious narrative of self-care and reflection for the individual and the community, we can see that this small blue house on nestled along the Susquehanna River is much more than a store or resource. It is an oasis, a home, an idyllic escape and refuge for all who wish for or require it.

 

 

 Citations 

Text 

Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library.” Illuminations, edited by Hannah Ardent, Schocken Books, pp. 59–67. 

Bloom, Philipp. To Have and To Hold. Harry N. Abrams, 2004. 

Delaney, Carol. “Spatial Locations.” Investigating Culture, John Wiley & Sons, 2011, pp. 37–67 

Latour, Bruno. “Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concerns.” JSTOR, The University of Chicago Press, May 2004, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/421123?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents. 

Miller, Peter. “The Chronicle Review.” How Objects Speak, 10 Sept. 2014, s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blackboard.learn.xythos.prod/57a9d55a4370f/585932?response-content-disposition=inline; filename*=UTF-8”How Objects Speak – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education.pdf&response-content-type=application/pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20190501T184226Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIL7WQYDOOHAZJGWQ/20190501/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=7b820ab50c309fb3a0250aac3974fb25cf3902ca4168533d961c5f7e262fe5a4. 

Rowling, J.K. Order of the Phoneix. Bloomsbury Publisher, 1997. 

Online  

Data USA “Employment by Industries” chart. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/sunbury-pa/ 

“Google Maps.” Google Maps. Google, n.d. Web. 1 May 2019, http://maps.google.com/. 

“Time Graphics.” Time Graphic. Time.Grapjic, n.d. Web. 1 May 2019, https://time.graphics/line/234320 

Thinglink,” Thinglink.com. Web. 1 May 2019 

Pictures 

Bucci, John. Bible DepotSunbury, Pennsylvania

Chobanoff, Anna. Bible Depot, 1 May 2019, Sunbury, Pennsylvania

WKOK Radio Station. <http://www.eagle107.com/Eagle_107/107_Station_History.htm>

Books-A-Million: A Temporary Moment

When I’d first encountered Books-A-Million at the Susquehanna Valley Mall, I’d have to say the experience lacked any memorable qualities that personally spoke to me. As someone who grew up around independent bookstores, I couldn’t shake the feeling that a corporate bookstore was more of a temporary space. For the everyday consumer, a temporary space may not have an effect on what is sold in a store. But for an avid book lover, the bookstore itself entices, connects, and creates the type of audience that are drawn to the space.

For Books-A-Million, their audience appears to be a combination of consumers, book lovers, temporary fandoms, and deal-seekers. The bookstore uses a well-organized, strategic floor plan to herd their audience into the store. (See the floor plan shown below.)

Floor plan of Books-A-Million in the Susquehanna Valley Mall.
Note: Picture not drawn to scale. Green circle is the entrance.

The location of Books-A-Million is strategic in and of itself. The bookstore is located a short distance from Auntie Anne’s and a Cinnabon, two food sources that have food and beverages to- go so people can walk around and browse. Books-A-Million has large windows on either side of their entrance to showcase all of their colorful “special products” inside. While stores in the mall usually have large windows, it nonetheless still adds to the bookstore’s toy-box-like charm.

For those who wander by, they’ll peek through the windows and notice an assortment of items: large stuffed animals nestled close to the glass (“casually” placed in front of the New Arrivals section), a huge Harry Potter section that consists of wizard wands, character Funko POPS! and, of course, the book series (but with their new redone covers). On the right side, slightly adjacent from the magazines, are the Easter decorations that show the bookstore keeps up with the holidays as well as the trends.

As someone who doesn’t care about the trends of today, I felt thrown off at how “in the moment” the sneak preview of the store had been. Other than childhood nostalgia, there doesn’t seem to be a connection to the past like that of an independent bookstore. In Unpacking My Library: A Talk about Book Collecting, Walter Benjamin discussed the idea of ownership as magic because it’s a connection with the past (60-61). There is nothing wrong with being in the moment, but can we really learn or enhance our experiences if we lose that connection with the past?

The two end and middle isles were pretty slim. A smart strategy to get consumers to turn around and look so they avoid hitting anything. 

I pondered this question as I stood at the entrance. I’m greeted with the Last Chance book rack, which is positioned to be half-in and out of the store. Like a magnet, my eyes are drawn to the inside of the store by the medium-sized 20% off political, young adult, and horror novels. I couldn’t help but cringe at the little discount stickers that stuck to the covers. There seemed to be no thought into how hard it can be to remove a sticker from a paperback cover without damage to the book.

As I turned to exit, the shine of the Funko POP! cardboard and game containers reflected on my glasses. As I past through the slim isle, I found myself before the New Arrival section. The end of the new arrivals and New York Times Best Sellers aligned with the end of the Manga section. I continued straight through the Young Adult, where the covers began to look the same. A few steps away was the Nonfiction section.

One-third of the first Nonfiction shelf had contained Christian-Living. (There is an image of the shelf on the floor plan.) I thought about the connection between the past and the present. With such a small nonfiction section it seemed like Books-A-Million wasn’t interested in anything to do with the lives of people. However, their World History and Sports section begged to differ. Books-A-Million did kind of care about the past, but only if it pertained to the more well-known occurrences (i.e., the World Wars, Trump presidency, famous football players, etc.). Rather than embrace the past, the bookstore boxed the past in between Young Adult fiction, Adult Romances, Parenting, and young children; all things that pertain to things accustomed to “the now” or to the future.

In my eyes, Books-A-Million does follow the stereotypical chain bookstore idea: follow the trends of today and the future. As I stood before the Parenting and Baby’s First Books section, with the past literally behind me, I couldn’t help the feeling of being temporary, like every Young Adult novel that would soon be rotated out for a newer, similar Young Adult novel.

The slim spaces between the shelves helps herd costumers in a particular direction.

Yet I continued towards the toys and Children’s section, which covered the large L-shaped portion of the bookshelves on the right until the Mystery section began.

Ironically, the Adult Romances were placed near the Children’s section. I thought the placement was both fitting and alarming. Fitting, because in some cases the content of the adult romance may lead to actions that lead to parenting. Alarming, because I wouldn’t want my young children to pick a random book off the shelf that may lead to answering uncomfortable questions in the bookstore.

Finally, we’ve reached the checkout. The position of the cash register is perfect for an eagle eyed view of all the “important” components a corporate mind might care about: the entrance, the last chance sales rack, smaller accessories, such as gift cards and little children’s toys, and the staff picks. Since a chain bookstore wants cashiers, someone should always be present to discuss their choice pick. Just as you go to leave, to the right of the cashier, there is a magazine section for people who enjoy magazines or those who have to wait.

As I left Books-A-Million, I felt like I was leaving just a plain store. The design of the store ushered me to the left until I came full circle. The books seemed like mere objects, products, rather than something people may view as sacred.

In Reluctant Capitalists, Laura Miller discusses the idea of books being “beyond products”, that it is us, the individual, that makes the book a sacred object because of our attachment to it (21). But I’d argue that the atmosphere a bookstore holds can impact how an individual views the book.

Like Books-A-Million, if a book is disregarded as a simple object and put in a store that feels like every other store, then that feeling will present itself to the costumer and influence their perception of the book. The vibrant lights and colors of a bookstore may work to draw people in, but if there isn’t a strong vibe or link between the place and the book, then the book will forever be deemed just a temporary object for a place that will never feel like home. If there is nothing to connect the book or place to the past, could it ever be sacred or a home?

Sources

Text

Benjamin, Walter. Unpacking My Library: A Talk About Book Collecting. Schocken Books, 1931.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Images

Courtesy of Starr Cole

Floor plan created at Thinglink

The Heart of Mondragon

When I first walked through the door of Mondragon Books, I didn’t know where to begin. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but even if I had been, I think I still would have been temporarily stumped. It was like walking into a whole other world. The store opened up before me with a couch in the center of the first room and artwork on the opposite wall and all around me were full bookshelves that stretched all the way up to the ceiling.

I was struck by the realization that Mondragon didn’t feel like a store. There was something else going on here, something that simultaneously made me feel both endeared to this place and a bit intimidated by it.

This feeling, the one I couldn’t quite put my finger on yet, is what made me move immediately from this first room into the second one. Through something that could barely be called a hallway and on the left was a room more simplistic than the first one, with walls lined solely with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and a work bench pressed against a window. I fondly refer to this room as the “history” one, and while its shelves do house US history books, there is also a section for economics, travel, and international books. Most notably, set against the window that faces outward toward Lewisburg, is a desk encouraging people to sit down with a cup of coffee from the coffee closet and do work or relax.

The desk in the side room. Photo courtesy of mondragonbookstore Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving in to the middle room, past the tiny restroom and coffee closet, two cushy chairs could be found surrounded by, you guessed it, more incredible bookshelves. This room almost seemed to be the culture room, with books on religion, spirituality, film, and theater spread throughout. This is also the room with a phone set against the wall, like the house phone you probably had before it was swapped out for cell phones.

Walking through the store continued to feel like flowing through the heart of something. Following the hallway situated behind the checkout desk lead to what can generally be called the fiction section, but there wasn’t solely fiction. There were also books of short stories, poetry, books for kids, young adult books, and records.

I can’t help but recognize the thoughtfulness that went into putting the fiction all the way in the back of the store. Sarajane said once that Mondragon doesn’t prioritize carrying popular fiction, but it requires no stretch of the imagination to assume that a large portion of the books going out of Mondragon’s doors in the hands of customers are works of fiction. Why not show those customers what else Mondragon has to offer by giving them the opportunity to wind their way through the rest of the store, passing books on history and graphic novels, and cultural studies as they move to the fiction section in the back room? From a business standpoint, it’s a good move. Maybe someone will pick up an extra book on the way, and leave with two or three instead of just the one they came in looking for.

This, to me, was the only reminder that Mondragon was a store.

It was moving back to the first room (after, to be honest, a rather extended period of time spent browsing the shelves of the fiction section) and seeing the section tucked into the far right corner labeled Sex, Life, and Death, that I was finally able to put my finger on what it was about Mondragon that had given me that initial strange feeling.

Intimacy.

It was the intimacy of this place that made it not feel like a store. Intimacy that came through the fact that the building looked, both on the outside and the inside, like someone’s home.

Front of Mondragon

It was the intimacy of the couch in the middle of the front room, with Tiger the cat sitting in it, that invited visitors to come sit with a book or homework and exist quietly in this space.

It was the intimacy of the artwork on the walls, which Sarajane, in a later visit, explained were made by people who had visited Mondragon on one of its art nights, where people gather around the store and make art together.

I felt strange walking into Mondragon that first time because it felt like walking in to someone’s home.

Not only does Mondragon feel like someone’s home, it feels like someone’s collection. Specifically, Sarajane’s collection. While on a visit in which my group got a chance to chat with Sarajane, someone came with a box of books they wanted to donate. Sarajane explained to us that this is how Mondragon works: People donate books, and Sarajane chooses which books to keep to sell in the store and which ones to re-donate somewhere else. She joked that, sometimes, it isn’t all up to her. She has a friend who goes through the re-donate pile, and will occasionally chastise her for getting rid of a certain book. However, the understanding was that it was Sarajane’s decision at the day as to what was allowed to briefly call Mondragon home.

It makes me think of what Walter Benjamin wrote in his essay “Unpacking My Library.” He said, “For what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order” (Bejamin, 60). This seems to be what has happened at Mondragon. Sarajane has created order within these four little rooms. The next page over, he also writes, “I am not exaggerating when I say that to a true collector the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth” (Benjamin, 61). I think it is safe to assume that this is the mentality Sarajane has, given her excitement when those donated books came through the door.

Sarajane organized the books in a particular way, one example being the fiction section. But I think a more interesting example is in the fact that she put the US history section right next to the travel and international sections, almost as if she’s encouraging her customers to branch out, explore, and learn as much as they can.

In the end, I got used to the intimacy at Mondragon. I think I can even say I grew to love it, from the art on the walls, to the chairs in every room that made you want to curl up with a good book, to the tea and coffee closet and the landline on the wall. Mondragon is Sarajane’s passion project. Even if she wasn’t its founder, it is very much hers now, because she made it into what it is today. Its through Sarajane’s collection, as we browse and meander and read our hearts out, that I think we learn a bit about Sarajane, and maybe even a bit about ourselves.

 

Works Cited:

Article

Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library.” Illuminations, Schocken Books, 1969, pp. 59–67.

Map:

Created by Sarajane Snyder

Additives by Thinglink

Photos:

Photos in Thinglink courtesy of mondragonbookstore Instagram and Mac Bowers

Photo of the side room courtesy of mondragonbookstore Instagram

Photo of the front of Mondragon courtesy of Mac Bowers

 

Books Galore In Every Inch Of Space At D.J. Ernst’s

 

Classic, old paperback books can be divided into many categories, and nowhere is that more clear than at D.J. Ernst Books. Located in downtown Selinsgrove, the small store houses volumes full of treasures. Every shelf is filled to the brim, to the point where some books are now piled onto each other. On my latest visit to the bookstore, the owner fondly referred to as Homer by customers, was searching for a space to house his newest copies of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At the risk of taking the Hardy Boys books off the shelves, Homer was trying to find the perfect space where the characters of Oz could reside on the shelves.

When you first enter D.J. Ernst Books, you can hear the sound of the welcoming bell clinking below the door. Light reflects in the one room store from the giant window displays which makes sure that the space is always filled with bright morning light. Homer keeps the store open until the late afternoon so whenever the sun is out, light pours into the store. This makes it not only easy to see the fading titles on the older books, but it makes it easy to view the room as a whole.

Most of the shelves in the store are fitted against the walls, except for the display stacks right in the middle of the space. These books are miscellaneous stacks haphazardly organized, but it still works as a display. It’s difficult to describe this method, maybe organized chaos? For whatever reason, the system works and somehow the customer can see all the titles displayed, even if they’re not organized in a traditional sense. It’s an order of sorts, such as the one Walter Benjamin refers to in his essay “Unpacking My Library”: “For what else is a collection but a disorder in which habit has accomodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order” (Benjamin, 60).

It’s not just bookshelves that the titles rest on. Extra floor space is occupied by the selection as well. Lining the floor in front of every bookshelf are rows of books, each designated in a section. For example, the books on the floor in front of the westerns section also belong to that category. These books are loosely organized alphabetically, which makes for fun browsing. It’s on the floors that you can find the cheapest editions, used paperback books fit for a college student’s budget. There are some real finds on the floor, as unique as that sounds! Agatha Christie mysteries occupy the floor most days, as do books by Thomas Hardy and Victor Hugo.

Somehow, even with the floor occupied by books, there is still enough room to browse the store without running into another person. The plush carpet makes for quiet steps, and a wonderful sense of quiet makes for a good bookstore. Even though the customer gets the feeling of being surrounded by literature on all sides, your walking bubble never bursts. The customer has enough room to move through the space as they feel like it, which is just another reason to visit the store.

Onto the left side of the store, immediately when you enter you find greeting cards. This is the extent of the merchandise that isn’t book related. The small cart adds variety to the room, but the books are the real stars. To the left are the westerns, mostly in new condition. Immediately adjacent are the history books, both American and world history. These contain older volumes as well as newer, contemporary authors such as Nathaniel Philbrick and David McCullough. It’s the popular historical books that are displayed on these shelves, such as Philbricks’s well-known Mayflower (2006).

The next shelf over contains books on Pennsylvania history. Out of all the books in the store, these are the most out of fashion. They were widely sought after when Homer first opened the store in the 70’s, but now they rest on the shelves gathering dust and the labels are almost worn off. Directly next to these volumes, however, are several editions of children’s literature. There’s usually a few Harry Potter books, some fairytales, Aesop’s Fables, and illustrated classic folk tales. This selection is the most colorful in the store and the customer’s eye notices it as soon as they walk into the store. It’s a great shelf for little kids to browse.

The two final shelves on the left side of the store consist of war history and other world history texts. Proudly displayed on the war history shelves are Civil War books focusing on the Pennsylvania battles, something that is highly collectible in the Selinsgrove area. There are also a few shelves of art history books, a section that Homer wants to update in the near future. This reminds me of the quote, “To a book collector, you see, the true freedom of all books is somewhere on his shelves” (Benjamin, 64).

 

 

On the right side of the store are the classic fiction books. Shakespeare has his own bookcase where there are many editions of each play. The larger bookshelves are covered head to toe in American literature and European literature. These are loosely organizes alphabetically by author. These books occupy the top shelves, while the shelves closest to the floor are inhabited by poetry volumes. The final shelf on the left side of the store has tons of religion and philosophy books. What’s most interesting about this section is the organization. Where most booksellers would place C.S. Lewis books in the children’s literature section, Homer places Lewis’s books with other religious works. This is just another way that D.J. Ernst Books differs from your average independent bookstore.

D.J. Ernst Books has a unique and original use of space. Books are displayed out in the open, in a mass of organized chaos that highlights beloved classics. The objects in the space take on their own identity and become more than just editions of a book. They are the D.J. Ernst books, the books that live every day in the store. Homer’s bookstore reminds me of Walter Benjamin’s writing on his collection of books, as he describes his library with “the air saturated with the dust of wood, the floor covered with…paper, to join me among piles of volumes that are seeing daylight again” (Benjamin, 59). Homer is giving an identity and life to his books in a place where everyone can visit them.

 

 

 

Sources

 

Map

Created at www.thinglink.com

 

Pictures

All pictures by Monet Polny

 

Writings

Benjamin, Walter. Unpacking My Library: A Talk About Book Collecting. Schocken Books, 1931.

J. Levine Books & Judaica: Progression of Stuff and Things

Frequently, my parents find me staring at a wall, object, or some nondescript point in the distance. Noticing the expression on my face, they ask what I’m thinking about, and will receive the usual answer: “Stuff…and things.” They may not like the lack of specificity in the answer, but it’s less of a dishonest cop-out than it might initially appear. For every thing I look at, there is likely to be a great deal of stuff my mind associates with it, taking me on a process of thought that could very well have no contextual relevance between all the stuff outside of what I’ve constructed from my own experiences. This linking between ideas (what I like to call “stuff”) and things (which are objects that act as matters of concern beyond the base function) is not a process only I can do. Let’s take a look at some of J. Levine’s bookshelves and see what you come up with.

“Things are what we encounter, ideas are what we project.” -Leo Stein

While the meanings I created from this image are likely not exactly the same as yours, there should be a significant level of overlap. Based on our own experiences, we looked at the spacing, arrangement, and content of the books in the image, and both of our minds went on a chain of thoughts and connections to reach certain ideas and feelings. This, according to Bruno Latour, is what things do to create their own sense of importance: use our experiences to attach meaning to them. With our past experiences of similar sights, the way these shelves are organized gave them a similar meaning to those past experiences, the ideas attached via that proximity.

The Levines seem to be knowledgeable of this cause and effect, and how it can apply not just to “things” in the sense of individual objects, but also “things” such as the location and grouping of objects. As is shown and explained in the diagram below, J. Levine Books & Judaica is a space organized with this association of things and ideas in mind. Each product type is grouped with others that may invoke similar feelings, allowing customers interested in one type to have a similar interest in its neighboring products. The ideas evoked by these things will guide the customer around the store, though the route taken depends on the type of customer, which ideas the customer was initially searching for, and how their path would show them the way to new things and new ideas.

Following the arrows from the entrance and its branching paths around the store, to the back, and returning to the register creates a logical progression of things and ideas. As noted in the diagram, there are two general categories of customers: those who have come in knowing what to get, and the casual shopper. Note that “casual” should not be taken to indicate a person who does not take the Judaica seriously, but rather a person attracted more to the general idea associated with the things in each section of the store more than the specific function of each product as an object. For these casual shoppers, the path splits to designate two subgroups, each with a different idea in mind.

Those attracted to the lower section of the map are intrigued by the aesthetic idea of Judaica they can own in a collection or as decoration. Such things found in this section can vary in purpose from the culturally significant Mezuzah and Kiddush cups to the somewhat comical mini Zionist action figures. Regardless of the importance to the Jewish community of these various objects, the customer who wanders this way does so due to an idea of personal importance sparked by these things. Clifford’s essay on collecting touches on the anthropological nature behind this idea: a fascination with owning artistic and culturally significant objects. Though the things in this section of the store occupy various points on the scale between cultural and artistic, they all find their way into that niche, attracting the attention of interested collectors to one place.

Considering my consistent fixation with these figures across my posts, Clifford is likely on to something.

Customers following the other path are also interested in cultural collecting, though they focus on things that carry with them ideas of learning and enlightenment. Of course, the first selections on this path are introductory books to acclimate the reader to the values present in the more specialized and significant selections towards the back of the store, where followers of this path will meet up with the group following the other path. These books, while less visually stimulating than the Judaica in the other sections of the store, also fulfill their role as things that stimulate ideas and feelings. In fact, the placement of this front section and the back section creates a sense of progression as the customer moves through the store in a single trip, or as they gain the knowledge and familiarity to spend more time in the back with each return to the store, a transition signifying the transformation from the casual shopper to the former type that is ready to move immediately to a section that once seemed physically and mentally more distant.

Due to this layout, and the sense of progression one may feel moving through the store, a multitude of ideas and feelings attach themselves to each thing. Due to this, these things will never become mere objects again, especially in light of Walter Benjamin’s thoughts on collections. Each book in his library held significance not just in terms of content, but also with regard to the thoughts and expectations that accompanied the acquisition of each book as well as the history and memories of himself residing in each copy. Things, whether they are books or Judaica, purchased at J. Levine also have the capacity to retain the identity the customer gave them from the first glance, an identity built on and augmented by the cultural and aesthetic value of each piece as well as the memories of progression and expertise created by the space of the bookstore. This holds true for anything the customer finds. Books and Judaica. Beginner and expert. Object and idea.

Stuff and things.

 

Sources

Images

Bookshelf

Mini Zionist Action Figures

Store Map: Window Display

Store Map: Danny Levine at Register

Store Map: Toys

Store Map: TMNT Kippot

Store Map

Original version of floor plan provided by Danny Levine

Map drawn with MS Paint

Annotations: ThingLink

Texts

Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library: A Talk about Book Collecting.” Illuminations. New York City: Schocken Books, 1969. 59-67

Brown, Bill. “Thing Theory.” Critical Inquiry Autumn 2001, 1-22.

Clifford. “On Collecting Art and Culture.”

Latour, Bruno. “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam?”