The Capital’s Culture: Midtown Scholar Bookstore Brings Life Into Harrisburg

Midtown Scholar Bookstore, located in the bustling city center of Pennsylvania’s capital, has become a staple in the Harrisburg area since its doors opened in 2001.

Tim Cresswell talks about political geographer, John Agnew’s, “three fundamental aspects of place as a ‘meaningful location.’” These aspects are location, locale, and sense of place. It’s already been said that Midtown Scholar is located in Harrisburg, PA, but what does that mean for its locale? What is “the actual shape of place within which people conduct their lives as individuals,” (Cresswell p. 7)?

Midtown Scholar is within the 17102 zip code, which houses roughly a sixth of the overall population of Harrisburg, PA (Data USA and Claritas). This segment of the population is made up of mostly people 25-years-old and up, with the majority unmarried and living alone (Claritas). It is also a diversified area regarding race and ethnicity, as shown in the graphic on the left.

Keep in mind that this is only a small segment of the population which can find enjoyment in Midtown Scholar and all it has to offer. However, these are the people that make up the immediate surroundings, and therefore have a level of influence on how people from beyond that area feel about entering it. Laura J. Miller states, “Suburban women would take periodic shopping trips to the city, and commuting men would pick up items on their way home from work. Some suburbanites minded the inconvenience, especially those who saw the city as a place of iniquity and danger,” when discussing the post-World War II era, within which shopping in the city became less necessary for the suburban areas surrounding them (Reluctant Capitalists, p. 89-90). Despite being many decades since this change began, there is still quite the stigma around city areas, and Harrisburg is no exception. Although some may harbor this tainted idea of cities, the neighborhood Midtown Scholar is housed in has been referred to as “an up-and-coming neighborhood” by Jim Cheney in his September 2023 review for Uncovering PA.

Looking at the map of midtown and downtown Harrisburg, one will find several locations (marked in purple) that were built, like Midtown Scholar (marked in red), for the artistic, cultural, and historical betterment of the community. Midtown Scholar sits in the same strip as the famed Broad Street Market, known for its numerous vendors and fresh foods, and the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, known for its live music performances. Also not far are the Susquehanna Art Museum and Midtown Cinema. Just on the other side of Forster Street, a main road running through Center City, anyone interested can visit the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex, Capitol Park, or The Forum Auditorium, all beautiful representations of the art, architecture, and history of the Harrisburg area. And if that all is not enough to fill the day, taking a quick trip through the Strawberry Square shopping center could kill some time as well.

The bookstore also makes a point of being involved with the community surrounding them. Jim Cheney’s review also states, “The local arts scene is quite prevalent in the store, with local artists, authors, and speakers frequenting the Scholar’s stage and the work of local artists hanging on the walls.” Anyone who visits the About Us: Community page on the Midtown Scholar website can see their preference for local representation in their featured events and works.

To have such a hand in the community, the store must understand who this community is and why their influence on the store and its influence on them is culturally significant to the Harrisburg area. In this way, the community and the store formulate their sense of place. The community and the locale and how it all interacts shows how, “places must have some relationship to humans and the human capacity to produce and consume meaning,” (Cresswell p. 7). Featured on the Midtown Scholar website, along with their mission statement, is part of a review left by Carson Vaughan in his article “The Independent Bookstores Every Booklover Should Visit in the U.S.” (Vaughan, 2017) for Travel + Leisure back in 2017 (the original article is no longer on the Travel + Leisure site). In it, Vaughan remarks, “Today, The Midtown Scholar has become a veritable marketplace of ideas… Come for the literature, stay for the conversation.” This is the sense of place Midtown Scholar has built for itself over the course of its (so far) 22 years.