Midtown Scholar Bookstore: Unity Through Unanimity

Place and People: Present

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, in his text “Defining Place,” 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 is “the actual shape of place within which people conduct their lives as individuals,” (Cresswell 7)?

Midtown Scholar is surrounded by a population 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. 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.

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. Harrisburg acts as a go between and tourist destination for many who pass through central Pennsylvania. 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 makes a point of being involved with the community surrounding them. Jim Cheney’s review in Uncovering PA 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 show how, “places must have some relationship to humans and the human capacity to produce and consume meaning,” (Cresswell 7). This is the sense of place Midtown Scholar has built for itself over the course of its (so far) 22 years.

Place and People: Past

Having historical significance through the revolutionary and civil wars, Harrisburg has consistently been a turning point for political discourse and a shifting populus, highlighted by how quickly the city changed from farmland owned primarily by the wealthy in the mid-1800s to an industrial hotspot following the civil war, evolving into the diverse metropolitan center it stands as now. Alongside the growth of the city itself, the Midtown neighborhood followed close behind, having an omnipresent connection to art and education due to its affluent nature which allowed it to flourish through the years.

This is not to discount the working-class of Midtown, however, who resided largely in an area known as Hardscrabble towards the north-end of its border. Despite being a location rooted in wealth, the demographics of Midtown have been fairly diverse since industrialization. Originally referred to as Uptown before the Midtown Square Action Council popularized its current name, the neighborhood has a long and storied history of growing directly alongside its communities, and the story of Midtown Scholar is no different.

Co-owners and marital partners Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse began selling books out of their home in 2001 after having a shared passion of literature and academia, coining the name “Midtown Scholar” to represent this mutual interest, and opening with a stock of roughly 15,000 texts ranging from art books to textbooks. After selling books on their online storefront for over two years, Lawrence and Papenfuse decided that their customers could better connect with their texts if they were able to interact with them directly and view them in-person, choosing to purchase a historic property where the lower level was still dedicated to online sales, and the top floor served as a mix between a bookstore and a lounge.

After being housed in this location for 5 years, the owners decided to purchase the modern property located at the corner of 3rd and Verbeke, fully renovating the building for a year before reopening in 2008. Having expanded the size of their store and growing their collection of texts exponentially, every choice the owners made in redesigning the interior was deliberate, leading to an environment that Papenfuse described as a “catalyst for civic engagement and urban development,” further emphasizing their aptitude at place-making and growing alongside their community. 

Prior to Midtown Scholar’s arrival in the neighborhood, the presence of literary hubs were slim to none, described by Lawrence as a “book desert” before their business was the first independent bookstore to open in the area. In founding and maintaining a store with such a diverse selection, the Scholar has been able to promote the same love for literature its owners possess, allowing those from all walks of life to find something they’d enjoy regardless of their experience with academia. This is one of Midtown Scholar’s core messages– that there is no required level of education or class to enjoy books. When these resources are made available to all, a deeper sense of community and togetherness can be established.

In this sense, Midtown Scholar and the Sunwise Turn bookstores are remarkably similar to each other, as elaborated upon in Joanne O’Sullivan’s article The Brief, Joyous Life of the Sunwise Turn Bookshop. From O’Sullivan’s description of Sunwise Turn in the article, it can be seen as a dark mirror of the Scholar, being founded by two partners who had a love for how literature could impact an individual, and looking to bring a community together within its walls. Despite these similarities, the largest reason Sunwise Turn failed where Midtown Scholar succeeded is due to their approach to sales as a whole, described by O’Sullivan as not being “particularly conducive to cash flow” (O’Sullivan). The importance of these similarities and differences are that they highlight the crucialness of a bookstore balancing its community with how it operates as a business, needing just enough of both in order to ensure their literary sanctuary continues to exist.

Space and Objects

Midtown Scholar is a different experience on every floor, from the main floor brimming with bestsellers, to their balcony full of used and new fiction, to their underground scholarly levels stacked with rare books. Despite these varied experiences, Midtown Scholar still ties them together, presenting a cohesive, universal feel that appeals to people of all different walks of life. While the layouts of each individual floor showcase the individuality of the section, Midtown Scholar’s winding staircases and other connectors keep the sections fluid and easy to navigate. This connective tissue between their sections curate a sense of belonging across different levels and encourages a diverse and inclusive community to wander the shop.

Between their expanded collection of new, used, rare, and scholarly books, you can go to Midtown Scholar and get any blend of experiences, perfectly tailoring the bookstore to your needs as a consumer. This universal appeal stems from things as obvious as the books themselves to objects as integral to the store as the architecture of the store and the bookshelves themselves. As Pyne states in her book, “Bookshelves act as the mediating object between a person and a book; how the book is met depends on the mobility of the shelf,” (Pyne, 52). Books are presented differently to encourage different customers to interact with them. 

For example, if you were to follow me through the front door and up one of Midtown Scholar’s worn metal staircases to my favorite part of the bookstore, the fantasy and sci-fi section on the balcony, you would find a section reminiscent of local childhood libraries, comfortably all-encompassing. The shelves of alphabetized fiction rise high overhead, to the point that I feel small, but not uncomfortably so. The books here appeal to the nostalgia their shelves encourage, creating a cohesive experience that appeals to the average college student or bookish geek. The metal bannister of the balcony runs all the way around and down the staircases to the ground floor, giving guests some consistency as they travel from one section to another.

Back on the ground floor, shelves full of famous mainstream authors line the walls, old wood framing the novels tucked away against the edges of the room. However, the other main attraction of the ground floor, perfect bound romance and fantasy novels, take center stage on easily movable tables. All the books on these tables are faced up and designed to draw potential customers to the bright graphics on the front covers. Nothing like the feel of the balcony, these tables can be rearranged quickly and have fast turnover, appealing to those who wish to browse the newest bestsellers while remaining easy to adjust at a moment’s notice. 

The difference between the upper and the scholarly floors is striking as well. If you travel another level down a familiar metal bannistered staircase, you’ll find sturdy old bookshelves with huge empty spaces between books. Each book is given room to breathe, and a certain sense of respect that you don’t find on the ground floor, with stacks of mass-produced, perfect-bound novels. These books speak to the “scholar” part of Midtown Scholar’s name, and as Pyne points out, “authority, advantage, and social status [… are] most easily symbolized by the presence of bookshelves, particularly in a social space” (Pyne 75).

Using these notable differences between shelves, Midtown Scholar presents experiences that feel comfortable to every type of customer. At the same time, the connective staircases serve as comfortable transition between worlds. They don’t intrude on the differences of the sections but instead remind customers that despite differences, all are welcome throughout the store, and they offer common ground between genres. You can step inside and travel through a cafe, an independent bookstore, a library, a scholar’s space, or all of the above, all within the space of one building. 

Cultural Functions

Midtown Scholar Bookstore was founded on the principle of making culture accessible for all. According to Merriam-Webster, culture is the “enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training” (“Culture Definition & Meaning”). The store initially began as an online seller of used academic books, which made educational materials affordable and easy for customers to access. As the store grew and eventually placed its roots in the Midtown neighborhood of Harrisburg, a mission statement was established to adequetly encapsulate these ideals, writing: “Since 2001, our family business has worked to transform our community by providing a welcoming space for the discussion & exchange of ideas about books, politics, arts & culture, and history” (“About Us”). 

Midtown Scholar makes itself a welcoming space for culture through its carefully curated inventory and well thought out events. 

With a focus on both new and used books, they are promoting new ideas while also preserving historical culture. In both these categories, there are books ranging from various topics in both nonfiction and fiction. The entire main level houses all the new books that cover topics like young adult literature, history, science fiction, and the classics. As you travel deeper into the store, specifically into the lower levels, you are met with books that are more geared towards academia with subjects focusing on global affairs, world and U.S. history, religion, humanities, and social sciences. Finally, there is the balcony level that features used books in art history, fiction, young adult fiction, poetry, science fiction, literary criticism, and theatre.

By having such a wide variety of books in all these topics, Midtown Scholar is providing the public with a passageway into so many realms of culture. Their selection of inventory truly reflects their mission statement by offering books that exchange ideas regarding politics, arts, culture, and history. Although their selection is vast, each area is blended together through the store’s sprawling hallways and stairwells. Thus, providing an avenue for customers to explore whatever literary journey they desire.

Another way Midtown Scholar promotes the diffusion of cultural ideas is through its events. On the main level of the store, there is a stage meant to house all kinds of community events that range from author signings to book readings to music performances. This constant cycle of happenings provides the locals with a space for discussion on topics surrounding music, politics, and literature. Additionally, Midtown Scholar originated the annual Harrisburg Book Festival which focuses entirely on celebrating literature through a week of book-themed events. 

In MacLeish’s A Free Man’s Books, books are described frequently as being weapons. He makes the argument that books are “instruments by which the lives of men and nations can be shaped” (MacLeish 7). Although Midtown Scholar does not take as abrasive of a stance as MacLeish, the sentiment still remains: books are vital tools to preserve and disperse culture. Later on in the piece, MacLeish makes the claim that booksellers need to understand and have a passion for the content of their books, or else they are just feeding into the commercialization of literature. The founders and owners of Midtown Scholar, Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence, have accomplished this by making it a point to focus on uplifting ideas surrounding all kinds of cultural topics. They stock their store with books based on content rather than on profit. They host a slew of events meant to foster discussion and learning about a range of topics. If anyone understands and proves that books are weapons, it’s Midtown Scholar. 

Literature

Walter Benjamin wrote in Unpacking My Library, “Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories” (Benjamin). When you walk through the front door of Midtown Scholar, you immediately know what chaos means. Not only are you met with a bustling counter where you can order coffee, tea, and various pastries, a big stage where the bookstore holds events, and customers milling about, but you are also met with tens of thousands of books. Not just bestsellers and fiction pieces (which they do have, right when you walk in the door on the first floor) but they have scholarly literature.

Midtown Scholar started when the founder, Eric Papenfuse, wanted to sell his textbooks that he acquired from his years at Yale University. Papenfuse and his wife, Catherine Lawrence, originally bonded over their love for books and history. It is very fitting that Midtown Scholar reflects their love in a way that helps the community. Casual readers, book lovers, and collectors alike can all go to Midtown Scholar to find almost any piece of literature that they want. Downstairs they have world history, with an entire floor being dedicated to the history of the United States.

According to Midtown Scholar’s About Us page, Papenfuse studied American history at college while Lawrence Studied British history. Global literature is located one floor below the American history floor, and it is an impressive section. A plethora of countries and cultures are highlighted in the expansive bookshelves, and Midtown Scholar makes sure to differentiate between cultures that sometimes get mixed in or associated with another culture, such as the distinction between British history, Scottish history, and Irish history.

Up the stairs from the main level is a section of art history. History from all over the world, from Picasso to Kahlo to da Vinci. The diversity of the catalog that Midtown Scholar offers is nothing short of amazing. While the store might be chaotic, there is a beauty to it. The exchange of literature, and thus ideas and knowledge, brings people together. Literature gives people something to talk about, and Midtown Scholar is just the place to do it. They create an environment that uplifts spirits and a community. They do so by inspiring people to collect literature, and along the way they collect both things previously mentioned and more. Love for literature constructs a love for life, and Midtown Scholar is a place that loves both.