John K. King Used and Rare Books: The Outer Limits of Obscurity

The outer persona exhibited by a bookstore is always the public’s first glimpse into the establishment. This critical component carries a significant amount of weight when it comes to attracting customers, seeing as it is the most direct reflection of the business. While the abandoned factory of John K. King Used and Rare Books certainly possesses all the aesthetics one would expect from a run-down facility like itself, the inner contents paint a much different picture. As the old saying goes, “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” and this expansive bookstore is true embodiment of the time-tested cliche. Though its exterior may give the impression of a lack luster building, I can assure you the contents within echo a sense of uniqueness that you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere.

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Any inquisitive shopper that happens to venture into John K. King’s establishment will immediately realize the daunting adventure that stands before them. Within its walls lie four immense floors packed to the brim with books of various genres and types. The amount of content contained within the bookstore is intimidating to say the least, but to the avail of any curious customer, and much more so myself, King has floor plans readily available to help navigate this multi-level labyrinth of literature. With a cursory glance of the map, you’ll realize that the structural organization of the business is relatively consistent across the levels. On each floor, the outer walls are lined with books, while a series of shelves parallel the inner space, leaving just enough room for navigation. In keeping with its status as an old factory, the only access to the upper levels of the store is via the stairwell at the front. If the insane number of genres contained on each floor still isn’t enough to convince you of just how packed this bookstore is, then I implore you to make note of the telephones on the upper three levels. Put in place by the owner himself, these direct lines to the front desk are ready to assist anyone in need of help with their book pursuits. Although John K. King Used and Rare Books is a marvel among independent bookstores, the layout of its inner contents certainly catch my eye as I traverse its multiple floors.

The amount of variety offered from a used bookstore is bound to be large, especially when its inventory is as big as King’s. However, the degree to which the subject matter extends is unlike anything I’ve seen before in my literary visits. To gain the greatest understanding of just how obscure the content of John K. King’s store gets, the first and fourth floors will be analyzed under a comparative lens.

“I, for one, have in mind something less obscure, something more palpable…” (Benjamin 59) Some of the first words uttered by Walter Benjamin in his essay, “Unpacking My Library,” capture the first floor of John K. King Used and Rare Books more perfectly than I could have ever expected. If there is any term that could categorize the literature on this ground level, it would have to be nothing other than ordinary. Some of the most prevalent genres on display are none other than classics, history books, and art pieces. Material like this is not only common to any reputable used bookstore, but expected. Even though this may be typical stock, there is an underlying reason to this organizational decision. The ground floor is the very first room that customers walk into when they decide to pay a visit to King’s store, and, as such, should succeed in capturing their attention. This is a business strategy more than anything, but it nevertheless contributes to how we understand the inner workings of this bookstore. Art comprises a considerable portion of the ground floor, and most likely so because its nature as an aesthetic stimulant is bound to draw attention and attract consumers. From here, the other shelves are lined with material that would have the greatest possibility of interesting the average customer. Bibles and classics are some of the most widely read pieces of literature, and even a specific category like Michigan history is obviously appealing to the native populace. When you take a critical look at the genres of the first floor with consideration for the natives of Detroit, you can clearly identify the reasoning behind John K. King’s beginning floor plan.

On the highest level of the building lies the epitome of obscurity that I so aptly derived my title from. “Not even both factors together suffice for the establishment of a real library, which is always somewhat impenetrable and at the same time uniquely itself.” (Benjamin 63) To describe the content of the fourth floor as unique would only be scraping the tip of the iceberg that is King’s boundless wealth of books. Most of the genres in this section are not just uncommon, but oddly specific to boot. I cannot recall ever visiting a bookstore in which there were shelves devoted to the likes of presidential biographies, coins, or something as narrow as the Kennedy family. Supporting the same notion as that which was present on floor one, floor four is partly the result of consumer appeal. Genre’s like library science or LGBT aren’t exactly popular areas of interest, and thus their placement on the uppermost floor only follows suit. It’s perfectly reasonable to place the lesser desired content at the top, so that which is more demanded is not as out of the way for the customer. Despite this, John K. King’s decision to not only take in this obscure material, but make room for it on his shelves is a deeper sign of his appreciation for literature of this caliber.

Aside from the practicality of this organizational layout, placing all of the odd content at the top could also be interpreted as a matter of value. It was only in one of my recent classes that the idea of placing the most prized material on the top floor was brought to my attention. I had never given this much thought, but a retrospective look at some of the bookstores that I personally visited brought a sense of legitimacy to this argument. There was indeed a tendency to keep the most valuable books on the uppermost level, and this could have certainly been part of the influence behind King’s floor plan. He is, after all, the owner of a used independent bookstore, and these people are most likely to appreciate literature for what it is, as described by Walter Benjamin himself. No matter what combination of factors contributed to the inner identity of John K. King Used and Rare Books, its status as a unique entity is all its own.

The contents of a bookstore will always be the defining component to its place in the literary world. Books that stack shelves are the reason customers flock to establishments like John K. King’s in the first place. They have a desire for literature, and they’re looking for an outlet that can satisfy their various inquiries. For most, these desires rarely extend beyond the common novel, and King is fully equipped to accommodate them. However, even if your tastes are a little more obscure than the average reader, you can be sure to find solace in the extensive collections of John K. King Used and Rare Books.

 

References

Texts

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zohn. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968. Print.

Website Resources

https://www.thinglink.com/

Images

www.pinterest.com

Visual Media/Resources

https://wordpress.com/

www.youtube.com

 

A Treasure Hunt Through Square Books

The area around people influences the way that people look at things.  The owners of Square Books in Oxford, MS, the Howorth’s, seem to keep the area of their store in mind when setting it up, since one of the first bookshelves you see next to “Just-In Hardcovers” is “Mississippi Literature”.  Bookstores tend to represent the area around the store in the front part of the store.  Where Square Books has, “Mississippi Literature”, a Books-A-Million in central Pennsylvania has books about guns, and a store in northern New Jersey has Weird New Jersey next to a section on local authors.  It took a bit of team effort and one not so helpful phone call to the main store, to get a general layout of the three floors of Square Books.

Along with that, Square Books, like many other bookstores, show off their new arrival books, just inside the entrance on tables in the front of the store as well as by the checkout area, where customers are more likely to see them.

While constructing the floor plan for Square Books, we noticed that some areas and placements do not make much logical sense.  But, what does not make sense to me, might make sense to the owners, whom actually chose the layout of the store.  As Benjamin mentions in “Unpacking My Library”, “The phenomenon of collecting loses its meaning as it loses its personal owner” (Benjamin 67).  As I noted earlier, “Just-In Hardcovers” and “Mississippi Literature” are in the front of the store, but beyond that, things get a little weird (for me anyway).  On the left, next to the cash-wrap (registers), is “Mississippi Mysteries”, which I suppose goes along with the front set up, but I do not know that I have ever seen “Mysteries” and “Crime Novels” be near the front of the store or at least on the main floor.  Then there is “Business” in the back, up against the far wall, along with a table of posters and stationary, with “New Hardcovers” and “New Mystery”.  “Mystery” and “Business” seem to be the least sought-after books, in my experience with bookstores.  But what doesn’t seem to make sense at first, might actually make more sense, when I considered the placement of the stairs.

People are naturally very curious, so when we see stairs and realize there is more to the store, we have to explore it.  Square Books reels in their customers with “Just-In Hardcovers”, people like new things and on the wall display next to that is “Mississippi Literature”, which is interesting, especially to tourists and first-time customers.  Immediately after that are the stairs that go up to the second floor.  So, by my observation, people won’t see the “Mystery” section until they come back down the stairs, which are right across the way, almost like an afterthought, making it purposefully ignored the first time around, as those are not usually the sections that people will spend a lot of time looking through.

Going up along the stairs are stationary and journals, which line the walls. “Philosophy”, “Sexuality”, and “Religion” are on the second floor of Square Books, which is more like a hallway, since the first floor has high ceilings, and sounds a bit cramped, spatially, but actually overlooks the first floor.  These three things are often put together in most bookstores and are seen as a higher brow of literature, but I know I have a tendency to look through these types of sections just to see how many authors I recognize and to look more intelligent for looking at things that people hardly ever read for fun.

This brings us to the third floor of Square Books, which is where things got a little confusing.  While we pieced together this floor, we noticed a bit of disconnection between the subjects.  Where having “Music” and “Poetry” next to each other, we did not understand having “African American Literature”, “Nature” and “Science” right next to them.  This is where I saw that flow of the store break up a bit, because if I was looking at the “Nature” section, I would not think that “African American Literature” would be next to that and “Music”.  They have a large display of “History” books across from that area, but “Southern Studies” is all the way on the other side of the third floor.  So, I was curious as to why “Southern Studies” was not set up more as a subsection of “History” in the way that they have “Biographies” and “Literary Nonfiction” next to each other in the café.

In looking over the different genres and where the owners placed them in the store, I’m reminded of something Clifford said in “On Collecting Art and Culture”. Clifford states, “To see ethnography as a form of culture collecting highlights the ways that diverse experiences and facts are selected, gathered, detached from their original temporal occasions, and given enduring value in a new arrangement” (Clifford 231).  I’d like to think, based off this concept, that whomever did the layout of Square Books, simply applies different emotions and meanings to these sections than I do. Just basing this layout on pictures and videos of the store, I don’t really know what style/subgenre of books they have in each section aside from the general labels each section is given.  Like for “African American Literature”, I don’t really know what kind of books they put in this genre.  Is it fiction, nonfiction, more historically based? Is it about African Americans or by African American authors?  It is a bit ambiguous with its current placement in the store and in its contents, as are many of the other sections.

In this middle section of the third floor, is the café where as I said before has “Literary Nonfiction” and “Biographies” on one side and has a small shelf of “Young Adult” on the other with a section labeled “On Writing” against the partition.  I wondered about the significance of this placement, particularly the “Young Adult” section, which might just be the younger generations inclination toward coffee type beverages, but it seemed a bit in the middle of nowhere to me.

The setup of the Square Books’ main store bases itself off the idea of the “top shelf”, but in this case, it is more like, “top floor”.  I say this because, it is not until you’ve gotten to the third floor and through the café when you get to the “Fiction” section which is usually a go-to place for people walking into a bookstore.  It also seems odd that Faulkner would be all the way in the back corner in the same area.  I would think that would be something that they would display more openly as a way to maybe congratulate people on making to the third floor.

One explanation of this is it being like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  The customer has no choice, but to walk through almost the entire store before they get to the “Fiction” section.  They also have to walk through the café, which is another way for the store to make money, since the smell of coffee is so enticing.  This is also the section of the store that people usually find the “top-shelf” books.  So in a sense, Square Books is like a map to find the buried treasure, you have to make it through the rest of the obstacles to find the “gold”.

 

Sources

Written Sources:

Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library.” Illuminations. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zohn. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 59-67. Print.

Clifford, James. “On Collecting Art and Culture.” N.p.: n.p., n.d. 215-51. Print

Video Sources:

“SQUARE BOOKS | OXFORD, MS.” YouTube. YouTube, 3 May 2015. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.

Picture Sources:

Basbanes, Nicholas A. “Down South.” Fine Books Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2016. <https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/201004/mississippi-1.phtml>.

Peter. “Inside Square Books [PIC].” Hot Topics in Oxford Mississippi RSS. N.p., 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2016. <http://www.oxfordmississippi.com/inside-square-books-pic/>.
“Square Books.” Square Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. <http://gallivant.com/shop/square-books/>.
“Stock Photo – The Famous Square Books Is an Independent Retail Bookstore on the Square in Oxford Mississippi.” Alamy. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. <http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-famous-square-books-is-an-independent-retail-bookstore-on-the-24127160.html>.

Dive Into an Ocean of Comics

What do we pay attention to when we enter our favorite bookstore? For some of us, the first thing might be a staff member, walking towards us smilingly and offering their help. Others might be impressed by the atmosphere, the decor, or the amount of customers in the store. Chuck Rozanski, founder of Mile High Comics in Denver, is quite clear about what people’s impressions upon first entering his Jason Street Megastore are. The initial reaction is what he calls the “jaw-drop moment” when they realize the sheer immensity of the store. From the size of the store, we can see that what the owner strive to accomplish is completeness of their collection for the highest customer satisfaction (Rozanski “Tour”). The floor plan below might give you an indication of the magnitude of the store. If you are looking for a visual tour, I recommend Rozanski’s video on the store’s Youtube channel.

The Denver-based chain’s largest store that you can see above is 60,000 square feet big and offers 45,000 square feet of retail space. You will not be surprised to hear that the enormous building started out as a warehouse and slowly made its way to a store that’s now open daily. This space that might remind us of the large book superstores of the past, holds a lot of potential for both Rozanski and his team and the comic-enthusiastic customers. In spite of the incredible amount of comics that the store houses, there is still available space for a multitude of different events centered around comics and the nerd community in Denver. With book signings, auctions, stage events, and educational meetings, the store presents its space as welcoming to different audiences as possible. People that are drawn in this way can then immediately be charmed by the knowledgeable staff and the impressive collection (Rozanski “Tour”).

During a detailed tour around the store, Rozanski mentions his aim to stock every comic printed in the English language for six months (Rozanski “Tour”). Since I have never really read a lot of comics, I couldn’t really fathom how much this would be. One look at pictures of the store make the matter quite clear, though: Rozanski used the warehouse for a reason. The founder also addresses the difficulty of actually keeping all of these issues in stock while at the same time having the everyday business proceed. This video does a pretty good job at giving you an idea of the amount of comics in the store, and those are just the bargain books. The new comics that are emphasized in the tour take over around 100 feet of wall space, which makes this collection the largest in the world. According to Rozanski, the arrangement of the comics within the shelves is also influential on the customers’ consumer behaviors. He understands his powerful position in the comic book industry and tries to use his influence to even the market. Thus, in order to give both independent and large publishers like Marvel the same attention, the selection is sorted alphabetically and not by publisher (Rozanski “Tour”).

By grasping these differences between large and small publishers, Rozanski indirectly also references the conflict between chain bookstores and independent ones. In spite of his obvious dedication to the field, he is able to see the business aspects of the industry as well. Just recently, after 2014’s San Diego Comic Convention, the chain founder announced the end of his appearances there because of the lack of profit. In this case it is the publishers that are making it hard to compete because they sell their issues for so cheap (Melrose). If even the largest comic retailer in the world has to pull out of an event like this, this bodes ill for smaller retailers’ chances on the market. In his own store, Rozanski is allowed to ignore these differences for a while. His stock can’t even be intimidated by Internet giants like amazon.com that are heavily threatening other bookstores’ existence. He specifically says that the selection of comic-related books that they stock is “greater than what you would find even in an amazon.com warehouse” (Rozanski “Tour”). He thus successfully manages to circumvent some of the challenges that booksellers today face.

Rozanski with parts of his beloved collection.

In a different corner of the store near the new comics, there are children’s comics and toys. These shelves are complimented by beanbags and friendly colors to “make [children] feel like they’re very, very welcome” . Further, there are underground and adult publications, which are kept in the storage. Out of all of his selection, though, Rozanski’s personal pride is the large collection of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Age comics. This term describes comics published between 1933 and 1982 (Rozanski “Tour”). Among these, there are special issues that are on sale for several thousand dollars, which are showcased in glass cabinets right towards the entrance of the store (Onôv). In his video tour, they are what Rozanski presents first. Just this little thing made me realize something about Mile High Comics and its founder. In spite of the masses of comics they stock, the annual revenue of one million dollars, and the variety of stores and employees that this chain stands for, Chuck Rozanski is just a collector that loves what he has created. In James Clifford’s writings On Collecting Art and Culture the anthropologist says that at some point in every collector’s life, he will be encouraged to share his passion with others. According to him, “personal treasures will be made public.” (Clifford 219). This is exactly what seemed to have happened to Rozanski. What started out as a teenager’s personal love for comics turned into the largest comic book retailer in the world.

Sulley from Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.

When considering the store, it seems as though this love for comics is what drives every aspect of the interior. Large movie posters line the walls and the floor space completely embraces its nerd status: a large Star Wars spaceship with a cardboard figure of Han Solo and several other characters find their place here. My favorite is a gigantic stuffed figure of Sulley from Monsters, Inc. that you can see in the picture (Rozanski “Tour”). This love for details makes the store more than a simple space. In Tim Cresswell’s terms, people’s relations to a space are what makes it a place. This means that the more people are invested in it, the more it is commonly seen as somebody’s place (Cresswell 7). The Mile High Comics Megastore is definitely Rozanski’s place, but by inviting everyone in and accommodating other comic lovers, he extends his “home” to other people. Though the warehouse flair still remains, it looks as though the employees are trying their utmost to make the space livelier and homier, to make this store a place to more and more people. So in the end, I think that it is Rozanski’s desire for the store selection to be as complete as possible and fully welcoming to all people that makes Mile High Comics so successful in its field.

 

Sources

Floor Plan powered by thinglink.com

Books:

Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1988.

Cresswell, Tim. Place. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Print

Articles:

Melrose, James. “Mile High Comics may pull out of SDCC over exclusive variants.” Robot 6. Comic Book Resources. 28 Jul. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

Onôv, Alex. “Mile High Comics, La Nave De Los Tebeos.” Cabezabomba. n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

Images in Post:

Rozanski sitting on the floor with Comics <http://www.comiclist.com/media/blogs/news/redraven070510.jpg>

Sulley <http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/110613chuck.jpg>

Overhead view of store <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sc1Q5E8Jws/UaGt1clttBI/AAAAAAAAABM/M2_sFK9UjKA/s1600/fcbd2013pan.jpg>

Images in Thinglink:

New comics shelves <https://unpackingthebookstore.susqu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Bildschirmfoto-2015-03-10-um-21.52.16.png>

Marvel t-shirt <http://www.8ball.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/217x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/M/a/MarvelComicsHeroesMensTShirt_AllTheGreats_12.jpg>

Storage Shelves: Screenshot from video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k65zYbArejE>

Comics-related books: Screenshot from video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k65zYbArejE>

Panoramic view from upstairs <http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/061113pano.jpg>

$1 comics <http://www.cabezabomba.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/mileofertas.jpg>

$2 comics <http://www.cabezabomba.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/mileofertas.jpg>

Events area <http://blogs.denverpost.com/nerd/files/2014/06/party.jpg>

Action figure glass cabinet <http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/baraf2.jpg>

Outside view and entrance: Screenshot from Google StreetView <https://www.google.com/maps/@39.780347,-104.99934,3a,75y,103.87h,85.02t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1seJt86k4XOQ_FsyiZM4hdiQ!2e0>

Glass cabinet with rare issues: Screenshot from video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k65zYbArejE>

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Age Comics <http://gallivant.com/p/2013/08/mile-high-comics-2.jpg>

Wall with banner <http://www.cabezabomba.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/mile1.jpg>

Kids section: Screenshot from video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k65zYbArejE>

Youtube videos:

Rozanski, Chuck. “Mile High Comics Jason St. Mega Store Tour with Chuck Rozanski.” Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 5 Jun. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

A Cadence of Coming Out

It is no surprise that like its contents, bookstores have a story or readability of their own. The way a bookstore owner places their genres, the intentional flow of traffic, even the placement of non-book items have a design. Upon entering Giovanni’s Room, Philadelphia’s largest and most reputable LGBTQ and feminist book collection, you are immediately greeted by safety and informational pamphlets, current magazines, newspapers, and free condoms. Not to mention the LGBTQ colors: rainbow flags, ribbons and stars hang from the ceiling as far back as the book shelves go. From top to bottom this space is anything but subtle with a welcoming and helpful atmosphere. Through a closer look at its design Giovanni’s Room clearly invites its sometimes timid visitors with shameless ease.

During the AIDS break out, Giovanni’s Room was one of the only places offering medical and prevention information. Its reputation as a resource center upholds as these pamphlets and brochures are free and easily accessible to any passerby. In fact, one might suggest the placement of these items are a statement of respect to those who sought out this kind of information without wanting to dive deeper into the bookshelves. Whether a customer purchases a book or not, Ed Hermance, the store’s owner for 70 years, provides essential sometimes embarrassing information without judgment. To the discretion of the customer and the success of the bookstore, things like condoms and AIDS information are being proliferated—something Giovanni’s Room prides itself on throughout history. Naturally, one of the bookstores first statements is its selflessness as a member of the LGBT community.

Activism as a base for a bookstore is risky, but done right with special care not to be too loud or to quiet Giovanni’s Room has made room on their shelfs for leisure gay fiction and the politics surrounding homosexuality. After reading the article Rallying Point: Lewis Michaux’s National Memorial African Bookstore and analyzing the photograph taken of the store, I would argue that as loud as Giovanni’s Room is with representing a specific community, it holds no pressure or discrimination against heterosexuals as the African-American Activist bookstore did against whites. Both stores are decorated with their influence and are certainly trying to make a statement, but after looking at the way in which the first floor of Giovanni’s Room is set up, a fun introduction to the LGBT community, it does so in an appropriate friendly way.

Publications like Bitch, Out, Attitude, Diva, Ms., Curve, Bust and many more are some of the first titles a customer sees upon entering the bookstore. These gay, lesbian, feminist and in between magazines are small and easy to digest pieces, which feel like a relaxed way to draw the sometimes hesitant LGBTQ and feminist customers in. Full of pop culture, travel, and fashion information, the publications are easy to porous and leaf through, which to me adds comfort to the storefront. In my opinion Hermance set this up quite on purpose as a sort of metaphor for the sometimes closeted LGBTQ members. Start off small with a few articles, then as interest and confidence grows walk a little further into the store where you can find anything from lesbian fiction, to personal coming out stories.

Continuing straight into the store will put you parallel with the front desk. A large friendly bar like structure decorated with current magazines and books. Behind the bar and a little further into the store at the bottom of the second floor stair case are key chains, dog colors, license plates, and pins for sale. Objects like these are sometimes debated as gimmicky in bookstores. Things like elaborate bookmarks, expensive pens, notebooks, even music can arguably clutter a place in which language should be the main focus. But here in Giovanni’s Room these items speak to the widening of a culture through everyday life. Through a book collector’s eye, Walter Benjamin connects the way in which a book buyer gives a book purpose in his collection Illuminations. He says, “To a book collector, you see, the true freedom of all books is somewhere on his shelves” (64). In other words, a collector’s purchase is like a re-birth of a book giving it purpose and meaning through social and cultural implications. What are words on a page if they are not read and thought about? The same can be said for these objects for sale in Giovanni’s Room. While these items hang on the wall as decorations for the time being, once purchased, a dog leash for instance, gives meaning to the person attached to it. It has a new social purpose to proudly identify the individual sporting its vibrant rainbow colors.

Giovanni’s Room is made up of two circular stories. So upon entering one can travel right, which in my opinion is probably the most traveled route due to the magazines and items offered in that direction, and left, which starts out with a shelf of lube for sale. Taking the more popular route brings customers past the magazines to the lesbian and feminist section of the first floor which offers lesbian sci-fi and fantasy, fiction, mystery and romance along with feminist books in those genres. These options seem like unthreatening ways of entertaining ones sexuality and social opinions.

Fiction and mystery are not normally seen under the heading of “Lesbian” or “Feminist”. Hermance’s collection of books connects subject and object first by Giovanni’s Room’s reputation as a LGBTQ and feminist resource center, then by a subheading of a more specific sexuality (i.e. lesbian). In other words lesbian fiction is already given social and cultural purpose by being shelved the way it is in the store it’s in, but is once more given life when it leaves that order and is placed in a person’s home library next to completely different books as contrast. Books associated with a specific community have a status connected to a wider culture, which gives it meaning the minute it is shelved.

Taking a left after stepping into the store leads to an all-male section of mostly gay fiction by and about gay men. There is also a section that disclaims its browsers must be 18 years or older to look, which contains mostly magazines. Interestingly, there is also a section of birthday, love, and anniversary cards. Hermance really thinks of everything, doesn’t he? Overall the first floor of the bookstore seems like a relaxed and easy space to wander. It offers mostly leisure reading, periodicals, and miscellaneous items that associate with the LGBTQ community.

Walking upstairs moves interested customers to a place where they can learn more about cultural and social issues. There are sections about religion, spirituality, memoirs, non-fiction, health, women in art, non-literary biographies, and politics. Comparatively speaking, the second floor’s stock is a bit more serious in tone: non-fiction first accounts of ones coming out, how to deal with that politically and healthy, with God or with family. The importance of the second floor is evident as many members of the LGBTQ community want to be as informed as possible about their culture, and its placement in the bookstore is rather perfect. For someone newly out or timid about the bookstore, having the more serious content upstairs lets them explore if they want, but doesn’t throw it in their face.

Had the essence of the second floor been the first thing LGBTQ and feminist customers walked into, what would their reaction be? Instead of seeing a book titled How to Make Your Own Sex Toys they see one titled Accepting Ourselves and Others. Which one would you walk further into?

 

 

Sources

 

Texts:

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. New York: Schocken Books, 1969. Print.

Emblibge , David. “Rallying Point: Lewis Michaux.” Springer Science Buisness Media. (2008): 268-276. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

 

Images:

Google Maps (Screen shots)