Molly’s Books and Records: The Essence of a Home in a Store

Molly’s Books and Records: The Essence of a Home in a Store

Nestled in the heart of Little Italy, Philadelphia, Molly’s Books and Records blurs the line between business and home. When a customer steps inside Molly’s Books and Records, they are made to feel as though they are stepping into the living room of someone else’s home—in this case, Molly Russakoff and her family’s home. So, how does Molly’s Books and Records create a relationship with its customers guests that transcends standard customer experience and standard business transactions? The answer to this question is weaved in the subtle details of the store’s home’s floor plan, interior design, and book and non-book item displays. 


Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content
Note: Superscript numbers in text correspond to numbers on map.

To the left is the floor plan of Molly’s Books and Records, courtesy of Molly Russakoff. Notably, this floor plan is not limited to the 600 square feet of space provided within the four walls of this building. In fact, Molly’s Books and Records extends its home outward onto the sidewalk with a hand-painted green, wooden shelf that displays a variety of bargain books and records1. These bargain books and records—organized in their respective cedar shelving and colorful bins—create a first impression that is vital to understanding the essence of Molly’s Books and Records. Like the text explains in Lydia Pyne’s Bookshelf, “‘…[a] display of books must at all times convey its message and be inviting’” (33). Similar to the function of an entryway, this display of bargain books and records is a quiet welcome and an invitation for potential guests. Considering the weathered condition of the shelf and the worn quality of the bargain books and records, the message this display sends becomes quite clear: Molly’s Books and Records is a home for used loved products, and these treasures have been salvaged for the chance to be re-homed and loved again.

This metaphorical entryway continues into the building, where guests are promptly greeted by Molly Russakoff, her husband and co-business owner Joe Ankenbrand, and her son and store-manager Johnny Russakoff. At a glance, guests may notice several hand-painted signs2 hanging from the ceiling that signal the different sections in the space, such as Art & Sciences, Local Interests, and Cookbooks just to name a few. Additionally, they may take notice of the lighting, which is a bright fluorescence that emits from a variety of overhead lights, like LED strip-lights and paper-shade pendant lights. While bright fluorescence can potentially make environments feel cold and unnatural, the variety of lights and shades in the space helps create dimension where mood lighting is absent. Also, the colorful flooring contributes to a more positive atmosphere in the store; it also neutralizes the coolness of the bright fluorescent lighting. 

Taking a few steps inside of the space, guests brush-up against a wall that displays three different media: CDs, records, and poetry books. Again, consider one of Pyne’s fundamentals for book displays, in which displays must convey meaning (33). According to Molly Russakoff, CDs and records are displayed towards the front of the store because customers are most interested in them. Still, why include poetry in this mix? What kind of message does Russakoff convey with this display? In my interpretation, these poetry books belong with these CDs and records. Why? For the simple fact that poetry is considered the intersection of music and books, and this store is also an intersection of ideas and different media. Thus, this display of CDs, records, and poetry books helps shape the intersectional identity of Molly’s Books and Records.

Walking further past the entryway, guests step into a metaphorical living room, in which records fill the center space3 and fiction books line the wall4 furthest from the entrance. For many households, the core of a home is the living room, as it often is a place for sharing conversation and space. Similarly, this metaphorical living room where fiction books and records face one another creates a sense of shared conversation and space. Nevertheless, I cannot claim that the core of Molly’s Books and Records is this metaphorical living room, as the heart of this home is reserved elsewhere within these four walls. In between this living room and the heart of this home, Russakoff dedicates an alcove to local and non-fiction books, as well as art, philosophy, and religious books. Here, Molly’s Books and Records connects with its guests and builds community through books related to human experiences and diverse perspectives. 

Past this alcove, guests step into the heart of this home, which is a room dedicated to gastronomy like kitchens5. To understand why this room is the heart of Molly’s Books and Records, it is important to acknowledge the Italian roots of this home’s location in Little Italy, Philadelphia. According to Pamela Forsythe in the Broad Street Review’s “The Italian Legacy in Philadelphia: History, Culture, People, and Ideas” article, gastronomy was the core for Italian-immigrant culture and identity. Even decades later, the significance of foodways in Italian culture and identity perseveres today, as Little Italy is one of the most cherished outdoor-marketplaces in Philadelphia. Inspired by this location’s relationship with foodways, Russakoff began collecting cookbooks and food writings. Currently, as Abigail Weils notes in “There’s No Place in Philly Quite Like Molly’s Books and Records,” this collection is dense and vast, and the books on the shelves seem to almost overflow in their untidy condition. This abundance of books loudly echoes the history and gastronomic-identity of the neighborhood.

Photography by Natalie Piserchio details untidy books crammed in the shelving of the Cookbook and global culinary section of the store. This demonstrates the informality of the store and the abundant cookbook collection it has.

When a guest feels satisfied with their stay and they begin to retreat back towards the front door, they may once more encounter Molly Russakoff, Joe Ankenbrand, and Johnny Russakoff at the check-out booth6. Here, one might notice that the special-edition books are placed out-of-reach on tall shelves behind the counter. This accessibility distinction between general books and valuable books is comparable to fine China often displayed in exclusive, out-of-reach storage. Additionally, guests may observe that there are several non-book items displayed, such as community-news flyers, superstitious or religious decorations, and store merchandise. Although these books and non-books may appear unrelated, Peter Miller in “How Objects Speak” reminds us to view “things and practices as exquisite bearers of identity, not simply as tools or products; not ‘outputs’ but as essences” (11).

This blog post represents Miller’s metaphysical philosophy, in which objects become active participants in the essence of concepts, such as business and home. For example, we examined how displays and organizations contributed to the perceived identity of Molly’s Books and Records; specifically, one that is an intersection of different media. Moreover, interpreting the store’s floor plan as rooms in a home allows us to analyze how consumers experience and interact with the space around them. With this newfound insight, we can now understand how Molly’s Books and Records blurs the threshold between a business and a home.

Works Cited

C., Bri. Yelp, 31 July 2022, https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mollys-books-and-records-philadelphia?select=_hDaBMI9RDKwfe0JXcbr9A. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

C., Marietta. Yelp, 9 Dec. 2018, https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mollys-books-and-records-philadelphia?select=D-jiokMHHKwAYQDjXvGa7g. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

C., Marietta. Yelp, 9 Dec. 2018, https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mollys-books-and-records-philadelphia?select=tLDlhJZg8WT6iadnvXTxBw. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

 C., Marietta. Yelp, 9 Dec. 2018, https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mollys-books-and-records-philadelphia?select=zTBHSMZ-7Vieey3kxUYwgQ. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Forsythe, Pamela J. “The Italian Legacy in Philadelphia: History, Culture, People, and Ideas.” Broad Street Review, 18 Jan. 2022, www.broadstreetreview.com/reviews/the-italian-legacy-in-philadelphia-history-culture-people-and-ideas-edited-by-andrea-canepari-and-judith-goode. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Miller, Peter N. “How Objects Speak.” The Chronicle Review. Accessed 11 Aug. 2014.

Molly’s Books and Records, FaceBook, 1 June 2017, https://www.facebook.com/mollysbooksandrecords/photos/pb.100066605814222.-2207520000/1489619537762206/?type=3. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Piserchio, Natalie. Eater Philadelphia, 13 Dec. 2021, https://philly.eater.com/2021/12/13/22820597/mollys-books-records-italian-market-bookstore-cookbooks. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Pyne, Lydia. Bookshelf. Bloomsbury, 2016.

Russakoff, Molly. Video Conference interview. Conducted by Lexie Kauffman et al., 28 Oct. 2023.

V., Linda, Yelp, 4 June 2019, https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mollys-books-and-records-philadelphia?select=RXR6vhdIZTh75M-ASHMPFA. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Weil, Abigail. “There’s No Place in Philly Quite Like Molly’s Books & Records.” Eater Philadelphia, 13 Dec. 2021, philly.eater.com/2021/12/13/22820597/mollys-books-records-italian-market-bookstore-cookbooks. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Magic Mirror, Magic Window: How a Feminist Bookstore in Brooklyn Both Reflects and Challenges its Gentrified Neighborhood  

Magic Mirror, Magic Window: How a Feminist Bookstore in Brooklyn Both Reflects and Challenges its Gentrified Neighborhood  

The interior of Cafe Con Libros. Image from @cafeconlibros_bk

Cafe Con Libros is a charming one-room bookstore and coffee shop at the heart of North Crown Heights. Upon entering, readers will find a small space illuminated by natural light and filled with clean white shelves piled high with black, queer, feminist, and classic literature. Trendy cream-colored tote bags decorate exposed brick walls, and the air is rich with notes of nutty espresso and the sounds of coffeehouse chatter. 

The store feels modern, yet historic. Young, yet timeless. To circle the quaint place feels like an invitation to travel both forwards and backward in time, to touch and listen to literary objects as they speak their stories, to find the intersection between books penned by and for women of all different bodies, beliefs, and backgrounds, and to bridge a connection between the turbulent past and relentlessly hopeful present of the surrounding neighborhood.

After all, the unassuming turquoise storefront stands on the frontlines of an uphill battle to unify the gentrified borough of Brooklyn. From the bloody Crown Heights riots that erupted in the 90s to the families of color that are being bought out of their homes today, the shop faces a street with half a century’s worth of racial violence and gentrification bubbling beneath its surface. Yet this conflict never deterred its owner, Kalima DeSuze, from opening her shop. In fact, the neighborhood was why she decided to open Cafe Con Libros. 

Prospect Place, the street Cafe Con Libros calls home. Image taken by Chris Setter.

A North Crown Heights native, DeSuze grew up a six-minute walk from the front door of the building that would become her shop. She considers herself interlocked with the culture and history of the neighborhood, reminiscent of a North Crown Heights crowded with old community convenience stores and African hair-braiding spots (Rebecca). “I aim to bring the folks together who would normally not feel comfortable with one another,” she explains (Fernández). DeSuze works hard as an avid reader to disprove the misconception she heard from her Afro-Latina community when she announced her feminist bookstore: “Oh, that’s for white folk, that’s not for us” (Fernández). Her efforts to do so are not left unnoticed. The left-hand window boasts Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You? and Lovely War by Julie Berry, but also features The Crunk Feminist Collection and The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae. 

The collection quickly reveals DeSuze’s multifaceted desire to challenge her Afro-Latinx community’s views on feminism while mirroring their experiences and giving them a reason to feel a part of the store’s narrative. As her community grows and changes, she doesn’t want her store to be limiting or divisive. She wants it to be intersectional and unifying.

A floor plan of Cafe Con Libros, made by Ellie Pasquale using ThingLink.

Stepping inside, the light from the almost floor-to-ceiling windows brightens the hardwood and makes the white shelves glow. A small circular table sits to the immediate right of the door, highlighting books from local writers in a “customer-facing” design that BookRiot calls modern, eye-stopping, and customer-first (Manusos). Small shelves by the window display staff-picked books for another anchoring touch of community. A bundle of tote bags hang on a rustic rail beside it. 

The remainder of the right wall is an impressively large bookcase that displays Cafe Con Libros’ main collection. Tiny tags with elegant, cursive script denote the shelves with hyper-specific genres and age categories. From left to right, the inventory covers cookbooks, spirituality, and healing before moving into fiction like “LGBTQIA+ literature,” “Queer Romance,” “Asian Diaspora,” “Indigenous Writing,” “Young Adult,” “Latina Reads,” “Science Fiction and Fantasy,” “Graphic Novels,” and “Young Adult,” just to name a few. There are even non-book items like little embroidered signs and metal figurines that make the shelves feel more personal and homey, just as the writer Lydia Pyne describes in BookShelf (Pyne).


The right wall of Cafe Con Libros, featuring the store’s main collection. Image above taken by Susan De Vries. Image to the right is from Kelsey F. on Yelp.

As the academic Daphne Spain argues in her study of Feminist Bookstores, women visit feminist bookstores specifically “to see themselves in the books, and the ways books were displayed simplified their search. It was important to stock books by and about African American and Latina women, and equally important to make those collections visible” (Spain). According to Cafe Con Libros website, the shop aims to “offer feminist texts for all personalities, political affiliations, temperaments, and tastes.” Their selection means to “represent as many identities as possible.” The abundance of hyper-specific genres captures this intention. 

Of course, the black feminist classics are front and center. Kalima DeSuze’s favorite book, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, is always faced out to customers (Abi). Shelf tags like “Modern Black Feminism” and “Black Feminist Classics” have the largest collections, and establish the store as a landmark location for black feminist book-lovers.

The entire top shelf of the bookcase, miscellaneously marked “Feminist Novels,” continues off the right wall and onto the back wall as well, right above the coffee bar, which takes up the entire back right-hand corner of the store. 

Their tiny cafe has a rustic yet simultaneously hip and minimalist aesthetic. Mugs hang from the walls, dark umber wood coats the countertop, and a small iPad sits in the place of a traditional register. Coffee is cheap, their largest latte only costing $4, but being criminally delicious. A row of children’s books about civil rights and Black hair line the bottom of the cafe counter, serving as a reminder of a truth DeSuze is passionate about preaching: a coffee shop shouldn’t signal gentrification, because coffee doesn’t belong to the rich and the White. The shop’s name, which is a play on the Spanish phrase for “Cafe Con Leche” — meaning “Coffee With Milk” — translates instead to “Coffee with Books.” Coffee is the fruit of the global south, as she hammers in the interview below with On the Block. The very name of her shop helps her fight the gentrification of coffee and books, and so does the literary display in her miniature cafe.

Continuing through the store clockwise, customers travel from womanhood to girlhood. A sign reading “It’s a girl’s world” to the right of the bar marks the threshold of this new portion of the store: the children’s section, or the place Cafe Con Libros affectionately reserves for their “baby, budding feminists” (“Cafe Con Libros”). 

Two regulars of Cafe Con Libros. Image taken by @cafeconlibros_bk.

This expanse of wall carries colorful toys, puzzles, and stuffies, as well as an entire bookcase of picture and board books. The tags in this section vary from age categories like “Baby” to genre-specific ones like “LGBTQIA+” and “Civil Rights.” There’s a round table at the end of this wall, symmetrical to the other half of the shop, that features children’s books penned by local authors.  

These books for young readers trickle out into the window display. Picture books and toys take up the entire right-hand side of the display, welcoming all the young families local to the area. 

And just like that, before you even know it, Cafe Con Libros has circled you back out onto Prospect Street. The seating is permanently outdoors, all year round, feeding customers directly back into the community. On an average day, the storefront on Prospect Street has a sneakered dog walker resting on the bench by its window display, two friends chatting over lattes at the patio table, and a mother and child paging through a crisp new picture book under a striped umbrella. A visiting author may even sit at a small desk on the street corner, signing books for customers and starting conversations with couples walking down the street. 

Unlike objects in a museum that often require plaques for historical context and meaning, the objects of a bookstore speak for themselves. They carry their own narrative. But DeSuze shapes a narrative out of this collection of books, builds an inclusive chronotope, as the academic Clifford might say (Clifford). She doesn’t insist that all women are the same, and instead builds a library of all the ways they are different and makes reason to celebrate it — identifying them as various hyper specific categories, but also putting them all together onto the same bookcase in the same small store. She resists the sort of other-ing and separatism that first poisoned her neighborhood. 

DeSuze is ultimately a community builder. All women are invited to spend an afternoon in the cramped space of Cafe Con Libros, bumping elbows at book clubs while sipping their warm mugs of coffee, cracking open their new paperbacks. She designed Cafe Con Libros to not only be a mirror for her community, but also a window to see into the lives of others.

The turnout for Cafe Con Libros’ 2018 book club meeting for Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, when the store’s inventory was still building up. Image taken by Chris Setter.
Text Citation

Abi. “Cafe Con Libros, A Groundbreaking Book Store in Brooklyn.” YouTube, 19. May 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_RHSS-ttg&t=145s

Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Harvard University Press, 2002. 

Fernandez, Stacey. “This Afro-Latina’s Feminist Bookstore Is Building Community in Gentrifying Crown Heights.” Remezcla, 10 Mar. 2018, remezcla.com/features/culture/this-afro-latinas-feminist-bookstore-is-building-community-in-gentrifying-crown-heights/.

Manusos, Lyndsie. “The Science and Recent History of Bookstore Design.” Book Riot, 22 Feb. 2022, bookriot.com/the-science-and-recent-history-of-bookstore-design/. 

“Menu: Cafe Con Libros.” Cafe Con Libros, www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/menu. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Pyne, Lydia. Bookshelf. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. 

Rebecca. “Badass Women: Kalima Desuze, Founder of Feminist Bookstore, Cafe Con Libros.” Medium, Coconuts, 28 June 2018, medium.com/coconuts/badass-women-kalima-desuze-founder-of-feminist-bookstore-cafe-con-libros-c64e0f8ed358#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20have%20a%20deep%20affinity,wants%20to%20continually%20invest%20in.

Spain, Daphne. “Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City, 1st ed., Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 84–110. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt18kr5mx.8. Accessed 7 Oct. 2023.

Image Citations

Cafe con Libros. @cafeconlibros_bk. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/cafeconlibros_bk/

F., Kelsey. Yelp. https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=nL8Ub9QbzrSqWY0LlJMxpA. Accessed 1 Nov. 2020

De Vries, Susan. “Cafe Con Libros Serves up Coffee and Community in Crown Heights.” Brownstoner, 19 Nov. 2021, www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/crown-heights-bookstore-cafe-con-libros-724-prospect-place-feminist-bookclub-kalima-desuze/. 

“Portraits by Chris Setter.” NYC Photographer Chris Setter, www.chrissetter.com/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Video Citations

Aboveboard Media. “On the Block | Cafe Con Libros.” YouTube, 5 Mar. 2021, https://youtu.be/oGQtWRjdmLE. Accessed 7 Oct. 2023.

Resources

Rich Intentions & a Love of Books: The History of Midtown Scholar Bookstore

When Midtown Scholar’s owners, Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence, met, they bonded over their shared love of books. Who would have known that over 20 years later, they would own one of the best indie bookstores in the country?

Papenfuse and Lawrence had already married each other when they decided to begin selling used books online in 1999. The official establishment of Midtown Scholar came two years later in 2001, when their niche was solidified in scholarly and academic books. However, the bookstore would not have a public, in-person location until 2003, when the doors of the old midtown post office were opened once again, this time with books lining the shelves. The Scholar was moved into the 1920s theater turned furniture store on the corner of 3rd Street and Verbeke Street in 2007 after extensive renovations on the building.

In April of 2023, Midtown Scholar held an interview with the owners about the origins of the store, and what it means to them. Something fascinating about the time Midtown Scholar came about as online bookselling is that it is the same period that Amazon began to show up as an online bookselling service. When asked about whether they found this worrying in the beginning, the co-owners pointed out that Amazon’s existence was an assist to them in ways. They were able to watch Amazon to keep their fingers on the pulse of what was popular, what was hard to get, and what was not selling as well. They make a point to find what is hard to find or what may not have large quantities published within the academic and scholarly world, so they have whatever people need. Their academic catalog is considered the largest between New York City and Chicago (Cheney).

One of the ways the store is stocked is through the closing of other indie bookstores. Papenfuse and Lawrence have traveled the country buying the stocks of shops that are closing to stock their shelves. They find rare titles, collector’s editions, and whatever else they can within these sales, and it keeps the memories of the original stores tied to them and the Scholar. Now, Midtown Scholar houses over 200,000 titles in store and over 2 million titles online, new and used from a variety of genres, so their consumers can find whatever they need. They began the Harrisburg Book Festival in 2012 to circulate stock, and it has become so much larger in the years since.

One of the things Catherine Lawrence made a point of in the interview was the intentionality they put into every piece of the Scholar. The name, Midtown Scholar Bookstore, was an intentional choice by the two when they established their first location. Even though their new store was on the outskirts of midtown Harrisburg, the Midtown Cinema was already in place, and they took inspiration. Papenfuse and Lawrence wanted people who heard the name to believe the store could be a part of the midtown for any city in the country. The Harrisburg community is extremely integral to the Scholar, Eric Papenfuse even having served as mayor of the city from 2014-2022, but those who know nothing about the store and its culture could make assumptions off the name and look it up later. This would open them up more to a nationwide audience, especially alongside their niche in the scholarly and academic book realm as well.

It is key to note the store’s location within midtown Harrisburg because Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. This means that prominent people, especially politicians, are visiting the city. Back in 2016, while Hilary Clinton was on her campaign tour, Bill Clinton made a point to visit the Scholar, staying for about an hour, browsing books, talking about books, and buying books. Its placement between more major cities like NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh also gives them a prime place for well-known authors to come and speak.

Because the Scholar will occasionally host more controversial figures in the hopes of allowing people exposure to ideas that may not be their own, there have been worries over the years of protests breaking out at their events. This has not been a concern brought to fruition, but it shows the points of both Archibald MacLeish in “A Free Man’s Books” and Jack Perry in his article, “Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist.” MacLeish points out the power of the written word displaying how it was one of the first things regulated and destroyed when power was being sought by the Nazi party. Perry shows this same notion with his exploration of how other nations have such difficulty getting their hands on books and when they do, those publications tend to be filled with propaganda. He wants people to realize the true worth of a good bookstore where ideas from any side can be shared and discussed because it is not that way worldwide. “I decided along the way that the importance, for me at least, of having a comfortable bookstore at hand with a wide and free choice of books could not be exaggerated… If we lose the individual, the eccentric, the out-of-the-way, from our world of books, we lose too much. All the first-rate writing and conscientious publishing in the world will not help us unless we have good bookstores to entice us to where the good books are,” (Perry p. 111).

One of the most well-known of the intentional pieces in the bookstore is the mural that wraps the inside walls of the main room of the building. Papenfuse and Lawrence commissioned the work from Steve Feaser, their neighbor and friend, for the outside of the original building. The old post office was an odd-looking place, and they wanted to make it beautiful and attract people. The mural is named “Life Along the River” and is a collection of the sketches Feaser did throughout his years in Harrisburg during his people watching expeditions along Front Street at the Susquehanna River. Papenfuse describes it as a “historical montage.” They explain that they were able to fit the mural inside the new building perfectly, to their surprise and joy, and they felt it would really emulate their goal of bringing the community together not just to buy books but to discuss them or to discuss anything they found worthy.

Midtown Scholar’s owners embedded into their store and its culture other ideals of MacLeish that he expressed in “A Free Man’s Books.” MacLeish said, “Books, in the last century and the century before, were sold by men who knew them not as packages but as books—men who had, and were entitled to have, opinions about the content and the value of the books they sold—men whose customers came to them, not to learn how many copies of a given novel had been sold before, but to talk about the novel itself—the innards of the novel—the quality of the book… True books are sold by the enthusiasm of those who know them and respect them. And that enthusiasm must express itself by word of mouth to count,” (MacLeish p. 13).

In the same April 2023 interview, the owners are asked about their feelings on chain bookstores, particularly those in the area at the time of their opening and at present. Something they made a point of in their answers was that they had no qualms with the chain stores because their goal at Midtown Scholar is different than that of the bigger bookstores. Eric Papenfuse says, “One of the things that we’ve tried to do is, actually, we do want to try to challenge you a little bit. We’re not just interested in giving you what you want so to speak, but we also want to suggest some books that maybe you don’t even know you want. And that’s part of the journey of discovery that takes place in the Scholar. Some people call us a labyrinth because we have so many floors and different spaces to go, and when I go to a bookstore I like the feeling of coming across a new book and saying, ‘I didn’t even know I wanted to read that,’ or ‘I didn’t know I needed that,’ and that is a different type of shopping than going to a chain.” His expression here is one that embodies the ideal MacLeish puts forth, saying that they at Midtown Scholar are enthusiastic booksellers, who want to help their customers discover new things and sit and stay awhile instead of walking in for one book and walking back out again when they find it.

Following its foundation, the Midtown Scholar Bookstore has become a beloved staple in the Harrisburg community. In May of 2023, it won the award for “Bookstore of the Year” from Publisher’s Weekly out of several bookstores nationwide. Its message and purpose, instilled in the culture of the store and the area from the beginning, has remained throughout the years.

Citations

Text

“About Us.” Midtown Scholar Bookstore-Cafe, www.midtownscholar.com/community. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Cheney, Jim. “Visiting Midtown Scholar Bookstore: Harrisburg’s Best Destination for Literary Lovers.” Uncovering PA, 6 Sept. 2023, uncoveringpa.com/midtown-scholar-bookstore.

“Eric Papenfuse.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Sept. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Papenfuse.

MacLeish, Archibald. A Free Man’s Books. The Peter Pauper Press, 1942.

Midtown Scholar Bookstore. Harrisburg Book Festival, www.hbgbookfest.com/. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

Midtown Scholar Bookstore. “Live | the Story of an Independent Bookstore with Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Apr. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpdFCTpNQj4&ab_channel=MidtownScholarBookstore.

Perry, Jack. “Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist.” The American Scholar, 2001, pp. 107–111.

Schweigert, Keith. “Harrisburg’s Midtown Scholar Bookstore Named Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year.” Fox43.Com, 23 May 2023, www.fox43.com/article/news/local/dauphin-county/midtown-scholar-harrisburg-publishers-weekly-bookstore-of-the-year/521-d50a4ae9-b492-4523-9d70-2148bea5429d.

Images

Franz, Elizabeth. Harrisburg’s about to get even more colorful: Murals in the capital city. 1 Sept. 2017. Pennlive, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/09/harrisburg_murals_festival_spr.html. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

Hoffman, Michael. Midtown Scholar Bookstore. 16 June 2016. Flikr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mhoffman1/9060576278. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

“Midtown Scholar Acquires Book Collection, New Store.” 9 April 2019. Shelf Awareness, https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3469#m44012. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

Timeline

Created by Olivia Neumyer using Time Graphics

Sign of the Times: Midtown Scholar & Metamorphosis

Sign of the Times: Midtown Scholar & Metamorphosis

The Midtown neighborhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has always served as a cornerstone of culture and prosperity, long before the city that surrounds it even existed. What began as farmland for the wealthy during early colonial America gradually evolved into the heart of the state’s capitol, bursting at the seams with art, opportunity, and education. Adam Porter, owner of the Midtown Cinema, spoke to the nature of the neighborhood, referencing former mayor Eric Papenfuse by saying “When the Mayor cut our ribbon at the grand reopening in 2013, he said they named the bookstore that because the Midtown Cinema was already there. They understood placemaking.”

I personally feel this quote highlights the spirit of not only Midtown Scholar, but of the neighborhood at large; digging deeper into Porter’s meaning, the neighborhood was originally referred to as “Uptown,” the term Midtown coming directly from the community. Around the middle of the 20th century, the neighborhood advocacy group Midtown Square Action Council (MSAC) popularized the current name. In an interview held this year on the Midtown Scholars’ YouTube channel, the aforementioned Papenfuse describes community-driven bookstores as a living, breathing part of the area, and that they must remain local in order to properly impact their demographics.

Photo of Broad Street Market, the oldest operating farmers’ market in the nation. Located adjacent to the Midtown Scholar.

In the same interview, he also discusses how he views chains in relation to independent bookstores, describing that they both serve different interests and demographics, but the independent bookstore seeks to “do what chains can’t do,” and provide their customers with a personalized, individual experience that can help them broaden their sights on education as a whole. This notion harkens back to what Laura Miller covers in chapter two of Reluctant Capitalists, mentioning the difference between independent bookstores and chains, and how it’s almost a David and Goliath situation; while chains are able to sell titles en masse, independent bookstores have the challenge of making a name for themselves, and this crucial dilemma is where the Midtown Scholar’s story begins.

When the Midtown Scholar Bookstore first opened their doors in what co-owner Papenfuse described to be a “half 19th-century townhouse, half 1950s post office” on the corner of 3rd and Reilly in Harrisburg, the two owners never anticipated the allure and reputation their once humble storefront would attain– now serving as one of the premier literature destinations on the east coast. Although the bookstore has only existed for a relatively small amount of time, a little over two decades, the impact they’ve had on the surrounding community is immeasurable. 

Through reinvigorating local academia, bringing life to the once abandoned Midtown Historic District, and pioneering the largest annual literature festival in Harrisburg (among many other accomplishments), Midtown Scholar has been vital to the continued growth of this neighborhood. Although the modern store has 15,000 square feet of retail space with over 300,000 titles, Midtown Scholar began as a much smaller endeavor, initially launched as an online bookstore out of the owners’ home.

Before their first brick-and-mortar storefront opened in 2003, owners Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse had been selling books online since 2001. Operating exclusively out of the couples’ home, a shared love of literature and its impact on society prompted the two to market a broad selection of titles to the general public. At around the same time, Amazon started to gain traction as an online book retailer, which had the potential to threaten business for the Midtown Scholar; instead, this paved the way for the Scholar to differentiate its appeal while remaining successful through their online store, adapting to one of the first major threats to its longevity.

An illustration of Harrisburg after the Civil War, in the midst of its industrial revolution.

When asked how they were able to compete with digital-retail goliaths and chain bookstores, Lawrence responded by saying that for every chain that sells fifty copies of a book, Midtown Scholar has fifty unique titles instead. This sentiment harkens back to readings we’ve covered, most specifically the excerpt from W. G. Rogers’ Wise Men Fish Here, which stresses the unique and timeless nature of bookselling. Much like the storefront in the essay, Midtown Scholar began small and slowly expanded its space and collections, before gradually snowballing into the beacon of bookselling it stands as today.

W.G. Rogers’ essay places great emphasis on the value of a title– not in price, but in the content it holds– and it would be remiss to ignore that the owners share this sentiment, challenging their average patron to expand their scope of literature, described by Papenfuse as “a different type of shopping,” one that could push the consumer outside of their comfort zone. While they were continually successful with their online bookselling, the owners realized that the wealth and broad nature of texts they possessed– over 15,000 books ranging from academia to fiction to art– appealed to the consumer better when they were able to observe them; to see, feel, and interact with a bookstore that seemed to exist out of time. 

After two years of selling books through their website, the owners decided to purchase the aforementioned “1950s post office” in Midtown, converting the loading dock and ground floor to support the online end of the business, and having the top floor become a bookstore reminiscent of the owners’ favorites along the east coast. Lawrence described the state of Midtown as a “book desert” prior to their arrival, being the first independent bookstore opened in the area. The owners remained at this location until early 2007, when in the midst of the real-estate crisis they purchased a run-down furniture warehouse, adjacent to what was once a theater. Renovations began that same year, concluding in 2008, when the modern Midtown Scholar storefront was opened to the public.

Lawrence and Papenfuse went above and beyond in transforming the store to match their vision, renovating both buildings at the new location from top to bottom. They knocked down walls, excavated basements, and transformed the interior fundamentally from what it began as, connecting the two buildings by tunneling through the foundation. The owners described the store as “everything being intentional from the ground up,” showing the heartfelt care they put into fostering a space for book-lovers and scholars alike. As their new location grew and their contents expanded, the owners began to understand the importance of the location they inhabited: Harrisburg, as described by Papenfuse, serves as “a wonderful crossroads on the east coast,” and more specifically to his bookstore, it served as a “catalyst for civic engagement and urban development.” 

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, however, the Midtown Scholar had to close its doors to the public. Despite this, they still managed to remain in business through their online bookstore, shipping them to people while they quarantined. Quickly making the shift to exclusively online commerce, Midtown Scholar was able to conduct over 300 Zoom interviews with publishers, authors, and other prominent literary figures, along with online events that kept their customers engaged.

Overall, the Midtown Scholar has had an indelible impact on its community throughout its somewhat short lifespan. Papenfuse and Lawrence were the driving force behind creating the Annual Harrisburg Book Festival, which began in 2009; over the years, this event they began has evolved into something so much more, hosting an array of panels, signings, and events for the public. The store itself is dedicated to preserving history, hosting collections of unique, eclectic titles that paint a broad picture of their love of literature. This love of literature which seeps from the very foundation of the Midtown Scholar was the basis of its creation in the first place; literature and their shared love of it brought owners Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence together, and they hope to share this vision with the greater Harrisburg area through their continued drive to create a space where individuals from all backgrounds can equally pursue education.

Works Cited

“About Us.” Midtown Scholar Bookstore, www.midtownscholar.com/history-and-mission. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023. 

Op de Beeck, Nathalie. “U.S. Book Show 2023: Midtown Scholar.” PublishersWeekly.Com, 12 May 2023, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/92294-u-s-book-show-2023-midtown-scholar.html. Accessed 6 Oct. 2023

“LIVE | The Story of an Independent Bookstore with Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Apr. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpdFCTpNQj4. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023. 

“Midtown, Harrisburg.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 June 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midtown,_Harrisburg. Accessed 7 Oct. 2023.

“Eric Papenfuse.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Sept. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Papenfuse#Midtown_Scholar_Bookstore. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. University of Chicago Press, 2014. 

Stabert, Lee. “Rebirth in Midtown Harrisburg.” Keystone Edge – What’s Next & Best in Pennsylvania – Growth, Innovation, and Community News, 17 May 2016, www.keystoneedge.com/2016/05/17/rebirth-in-midtown-harrisburg/.

“Midtown Harrisburg Historic District.” Visit Hershey & Harrisburg – Things To Do In Pennsylvania – Visit Pennsylvania, www.visithersheyharrisburg.org/listings/midtown-harrisburg-historic-district/2076/#:~:text=Originally%20comprised%20of%20farmland%20held,majority%20dating%20to%20around%201875. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

Molly’s Books & Records: A Historical Account of the Bookstore in Bella Vista

Molly’s Books & Records: A Historical Account of the Bookstore in Bella Vista

Molly’s Books & Records is an independent bookstore in the Italian Market of South Philly, an area teeming with restaurants, butcheries, and cheese shops. The bookstore’s collection of cookbooks fits well into its diverse culinary surroundings. However, the store and its owner, Molly Russakoff, greatly predate the establishment of that section. To get the full picture, we need to start…

In the 1880s, when Italian immigrant Antonio Palumbo opened a boarding house in what we now know as the Bella Vista area (“History”). This Philadelphia neighborhood was a hot spot for Italian immigration, with tens of thousands of Italians moving there in the late 1800s and early 1900s (“The Italian”). With such a large number of Italian immigrants in one area, Palumbo’s business was only the first in a line of succeeding establishments that would contribute to the creation of the official Ninth Street Curbside Market. A historical account of the area suggests that “[f]oodways strengthened Italian identity”, an idea enforced by the immigrants’ creation of a market focusing on Italian cuisine. Curb markets were popular at this time because “[t]hey offered an immediate and economical outlet for food products and related merchandise” (Tangires). This helped residents combat food insecurity during WWI (“History”).

“Philadelphia’s working poor gathered to purchase their essentials, leaving the high-tone shopping districts of Center City to those with greater economic means”(Explorepahistory.com).

By the mid-1900s, people began to refer to the Ninth Street Market as the “Italian Market” due to the prominence of Italian businesses it hosted (Tangires). This name remains a common title for the area today. However, this large population of Italian residents would soon be joined by a variety of other immigrants following WWII. It was common with curbside markets for owners to live above their business (Explorepahistory.com). When this trend became obsolete and space freed up, a new wave of immigrants from various places moved in, creating a more diverse market space (Tangires). The first Korean-owned establishment opened in the neighborhood in 1983. This opening was followed by various other Asian and Mexican businesses. This influx of immigrants from different nationalities diversified the Bella Vista area. The market spread out from its initial base on 9th Street, and the neighborhood became even more rooted in the “immigrant experience” (Explorepahistory.com). 

Old pictures of the Italian Market that reflect a popular, bustling food community. In one photo, there appear to be both Italian and American flags hanging off of buildings, representing the fusion of both cultures in the Italian Market.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museums Commission dedicated a marker to the market in 2007 (“History”), which “certified a rich heritage but also reflected the curb market on Ninth Street as a tourist destination…” (Tangires). The market has fed into this idea, establishing a visitor center in 2012(“Change”). There has also been an increase in high-end businesses in the neighborhood, a reflection of this new audience that visits the market for recreation over necessity (“The Ninth”).

Today, Bella Vista boasts a vast array of food businesses from various backgrounds. Its Italian population has greatly diminished, but there are still many Italian businesses that remain a part of the area (“Change”). The contemporary Italian Market serves as a cultural hub of independent businesses centered around global cuisine (Tangires).

“Diversity became a key feature said to distinguish the independents from chain booksellers” (Miller 84).

This development of the Italian Market has created a wide audience of both regular customers and passing tourists that benefit all businesses in the neighborhood, including Molly’s Books & Records (“Molly’s”). 

The store’s founder, Molly Russakoff, has lived in the Italian Market area for around 43 years (DeMuro). She is a third-generation bookseller and a poet, so she has deep ties to the literary world. Molly did not purchase the land for the store until 2000. She has opened and subsequently closed various businesses on this land: Molly’s Cafe, Bella Vista Natural Foods, and Molly’s Cafe and Bookstore. When this last venture ended and Russakoff was in the process of opening a new bookstore, this time with the addition of records, she met/began working with her now-husband, Joe Ankenbrand. Molly’s Books & Records eventually opened in 2009. Russakoff and Ankenbrand were married in the bookstore, which they live above. There was a companion outlet store on Passyunk Avenue, a street away from the central location, but it was only open for a year and a half before the couple decided to close it.

Molly’s Bookstore, photographed by Google Maps in July 2007. This is the oldest available photo of the street on Google Maps. The front of the store is covered by some kind of barricade with illegible signs on top. We cannot see to the left of the store. To the right is Fante’s kitchen supply shop.

Bella Vista Natural Foods, photographed by Google Maps in August 2009. We can now clearly see the front of the store, which has a new sign. The storefront is made up of a collage of shiny material. There doesn’t seem to be a business on the left side of the store. Fante’s is still to the right.

Mollys Books & Records, photographed by Google Maps in April 2023. This is the most recent available photo of the street. The storefront is still shiny, and there is another new sign. There is now an outside display of records and a new business to the left of the storefront. Fante’s sign has moved out of the frame.

Russakoff and Ankenbrand embody the consumer ideas independent booksellers are best known for. One of the ways they do so is by limiting their online presence. Their last Facebook post was in 2018, their Instagram only features record finds, and their website domain is currently up for sale. This lack of exposure contrasts greatly with popular contemporary bookselling which has been rationalized through the attempt to provide the sovereign consumer with infinite options online (Miller 57). Russakoff and Ankenbrand are also committed to staying interconnected with the other neighborhood businesses. In an interview, Ankenbrand acknowledges that “[t]here’s something kind of indescribable about the personal connection that we feel with the other people on the street…[w]e try to support all of the other merchants as much as possible” (DeMuro). This idea of a mutual relationship between local independent businesses calls back to the original Italian Market. One of the contributing factors to the Market’s survivability was its vendors’ “…strong and persistent network of social and economic relationships” (Tangires). Russakoff and Ankenbrand continue to strengthen this network today. Ankenbrand acknowledged that they usually buy any supplies they need for the store at Italian Market businesses (DeMuro). After getting married, they went down the street to eat at Villa di Roma, a local Italian restaurant.

“True books are sold by the enthusiasm of those who know them and respect them. And that enthusiasm must express itself by word of mouth to count” (MacLeish and Roosevelt 13).

One way that the bookstore differs from the stereotypical independent bookstore image is through its refusal to impose an aura of eliteness onto its customers. Ankenbrand states their intent to “…treat every customer like their wants are respected”. This is partly in the face of the large tourist population within the area, which brings in a variety of customers that may be casual readers and music listeners (DeMuro). They place an emphasis on comfortability, something that many chain stores have utilized to win out over independents.

The bookstore again recalls an earlier Italian Market through its status as a family business. Molly, her son Johnny, and Joe make up the shop’s staff. Although Molly’s is an inside store, it holds sidewalk sales where large amounts of books and records are placed outside of the store at discounted prices, similar to the stalls of market vendors. 

The Molly’s Books & Records family photo: Joe Ankenbrand, Molly Russakoff, Molly’s son Johnny, and the bookstore cat, Mrs. Stevenson. Molly’s is a family-run business, much like the original business owners of the Italian Market neighborhood.

Many independent bookstores do not have the luxury of relying purely on their own interests anymore. They are competing with bigger stores that have wider selections and cheaper prices, and Molly even had to close her previous bookstore as a result of this harsh competition (Amorosi). Despite this, Ankenbrand describes the 9th Street area as “friendly…profitable..[and] multi-cultural” (DeMuro). The couple are on close terms with their top customers and even take their requests into consideration when searching for new additions to their stock.

“Businesses continue to operate in an old world fashion while recognizing current consumer trends” ("History").

Molly’s Books & Records is in a destination area, which serves as more of a sightseeing trip for tourists than a residential space. There is a diverse consumer base for local businesses made up of “local shoppers, gourmet cooks, restaurant suppliers, and tourists” (Tangires). Similar to Gotham Book Mart’s nearby theater population that kept the bookstore alive in Wise Men Fish Here, Molly’s is supported by the Italian Market’s environment (Rogers 76). However, Russakoff and Ankenbrand don’t seem to feed into the idea of the sovereign consumer as “superior” that Miller discusses in Reluctant Capitalists, or to hold the somewhat elitist view associated with handselling (Miller 67, 79). They seem to fall somewhere in the middle. Their interests are expressed through their stock, but they also work to serve their customers’ tastes. This dynamic reflects a positive depiction of booksellers as “…concerned facilitators of meaningful consumption rather than…merchants performing the hard sell” (80). 

A picture of the cookbook section shelves in Molly’s Books & Records shows the wide variety of cuisine represented through unique secondhand finds.

Although Molly’s Books & Records has only known the Bella Vista neighborhood as a center for global cuisine and culture, it has adapted to this environment in a profitable manner. Both Molly and her husband Joe conduct their business in a way reminiscent of the original Italian Market stall owners. This combination of personality, diversity, and a touch of economic mindfulness has enabled the Market, and subsequently Molly’s, to traverse a constantly changing contemporary retail landscape. Molly’s carries a large range of products that will appeal to a wide audience reflective of its neighborhood’s diverse population. There are rare finds that may appeal to the rising upper-class consumer base, and popular picks that will guarantee interest in the average passerby. My timeline reflects the development of the Italian Market neighborhood and Molly’s various business ventures in the neighborhood. The transition from a space to a “place” is most decidedly marked by personal experience. I attempted to capture the most important turning points in the evolution of both that have prompted them to become the “places” of important events and memories today. 

A brief timeline of important events concerning Molly’s Books & Records and the neighborhood it resides in (Italian Market). This timeline shows the progression of the neighborhood as an Italian immigrant hub. The timeline also traces the establishment of long-term resident Molly Russakoff’s bookstore, Molly’s Books & Records, located in the center of the Italian Market area.

Text

Amorosi, A.D. “Reading and More at Molly’s Bookstore.” Https://Www.Inquirer.Com, 14 Oct. 2007, www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20071014_Molly_Russakoffs_new_Italian_Market_shop_will_strive_to_be_a_center_for_homeschooling_.html. 

“Change Coming to Philly’s Italian Market.” Thereporteronline, thereporteronline, 24 Sept. 2021, www.thereporteronline.com/2013/12/27/change-coming-to-phillys-italian-market/.

DeMuro, Catherine. “Italian Market Q & A: Joe Ankenbrand, Co-Owner of Molly’s Books and Records on 9th Street.” The 9th Street Beat, 8 Mar. 2015, 9thstreetbeat.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/italian-market-q-a-joe-ankenbrand-co-owner-of-mollys-books-and-records-on-9th-street/.

Explorepahistory.Com, explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-3E1. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

“History.” S. 9TH ST. ITALIAN MARKET PHILADELPHIA, PA, www.italianmarketphilly.org/history.html. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

MacLeish, Archibald, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. A Free Man’s Book an Adress Delivered at the Annual Banquet of the American Booksellers Association. Pauper Press, 1942. 

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. University of Chicago Press, 2014. 

“Molly’s Books & Records.” The Merchants Fund, merchantsfund.org/story/mollys-books-records/. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

Rogers, W. G. Wise Men Fish Here: The Story of Frances Steloff and the Gotham Book Mart. Booksellers House, 1994. 

Tangires, Helen. “Italian Market.” Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, 1 Sept. 2022, philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/italian-market/.

“The Italian Legacy in Philadelphia: History, Culture, People, And…” Broad Street Review, www.broadstreetreview.com/reviews/the-italian-legacy-in-philadelphia-history-culture-people-and-ideas-edited-by-andrea-canepari-and-judith-goode. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.“The Ninth Street Market and South Philadelphia: Personal Connections, Particular Views, Past Times, and Embodied Places.” PhilaPlace, www.philaplace.org/essay/380/. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

Media

Cookbooks in Molly’s store: Weil, Abigail. “There’s No Place in Philly Quite like Molly’s Books & Records.” Eater Philly, Eater Philly, 13 Dec. 2021, philly.eater.com/2021/12/13/22820597/mollys-books-records-italian-market-bookstore-cookbooks.

Current photo of Esposito’s: “Esposito’s Meats Photos.” Yelp, www.yelp.com/biz_photos/espositos-meats-philadelphia?select=2cbkyGsykYWbl6Gbxc2z6g. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023. 

Current photo of Ralph’s: Palomba, Asia London. “Ralph’s Italian Restaurant: A Philadelphia Icon.” America Domani, 13 June 2023, americadomani.com/ralphs-italian-restaurant-a-philadelphia-icon/.

Google Maps: Mollys Books & Records.

Molly’s Books & Records Family: “Married Couple Shares Their Love of Books, Music at Molly’s Books and Records in South Philly.” 6abc Philadelphia, 3 Mar. 2022, 6abc.com/mollys-books-and-records-italian-market-south-philadelphia-art-of-aging/11617396/.

Old photos of Italian Market: “History.” S. 9TH ST. ITALIAN MARKET PHILADELPHIA, PA, www.italianmarketphilly.org/history.html. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023.

Timeline courtesy of me, Natalie Chamberlain.

Harriett’s Bookshop: A Monument of Resilience and Inclusivity in Historic Fishtown

Inside the heart of Philadelphia’s historic Fishtown neighborhood lies Harriet’s Bookshop. As soon as you step foot underneath the black and white banner (The word “Harriett’s” sliced cleanly through the middle by a machete, a symbol of women’s power), you immediately can tell that this is more than just a bookstore; this is a monument of a story of resilience, a testament to the power of literature, and a celebration of inclusivity in a place historically known for its different demographic.

As soon as you step inside you are greeted with an array of colorful book covers—vessels for the words procured by owner, Jeannine Cook, that tell stories of unheard voices. Maybe you take a seat in one of the cream or coffee colored arm chairs, or perhaps to move to watch the people moving down Gerard Avenue as you sip your coffee from the local cafe down the street. Perhaps the slightest hint of fragrance illuminating from a scented candle or incense dances by your nose as it invites you to explore what this shining jewel of a store has to offer you, to tell you. This blog embarks on a journey through the remarkable past of Harriett’s Bookshop, highlighting its indomitable founder, Jeannine Cook, and the plethora of obstacles and challenges she confronted in redefining the very concept of what a bookshop can be within the Caucasian boundaries of Fishtown, Philadelphia. 

Historic Fishtown, circa 1887

Going back to the town’s early history, Fishtown, with its predominantly white demographic, is a neighborhood formed by the working class immigrants that called the area home, its identity interwoven with the fabric of its red-brick, historic buildings. For years, Fishtown stood as a symbol of tradition—one could even argue that it had become a “white place” in terms of its community makeup. However, the narrative of this neighborhood underwent a profound transformation with the arrival of Harriett’s Bookshop, one that paralleled the change the entire Nation would go through at the turning of the decade. 

The above graphic (taken from claritas360.com) depicts the racial makeup of Fishtown. 73% of the town of only 25,000 is made up of white folk, with the remaining percentage being made up of 12% Hispanic folks, 7% Asian, and only 4.3% black (statisticalatlas.com).

It is clear to see that the neighborhood of Fishtown was not one known for its diversity, and that would prove to be a huge challenge for Cook as she embarked on her journey of spreading knowledge and empowering black women—and other writers throughout the community.

Cook and her family

The story of Harriett’s Bookshop traces back to Jeannine Cook’s early years. In the third grade, she discovered a deep fascination with the remarkable Harriett Tubman, an iconic figure synonymous with resilience and courage. Cook was fascinated by Harriett’s perseverance and bravery while leading countless slaves to freedom, and this admiration for Tubman stayed with Cook throughout her life. Simultaneously, however, Cook’s mother, Celia, was facing an extraordinary challenge of her own during this time period—she was losing her sight, and before long was considered legally blind. In a remarkable display of determination not too unlike Harriett herself, and amongst unlimited familial support, Jeannine and her two sisters stepped up to read their mother’s textbooks aloud to her and transcribe her dissertation. Cook’s mother’s remarkable achievement was earning her master’s degree in theology from Richmond Virginia Seminary despite her roadblocks, with the help of her girls, an endeavor that symbolized triumph over adversity and that was only the beginning of Cook’s desire for empowering people through literature. 

After successfully completing her college education, Jeannine Cook harbored the dream of opening a bookstore. She even managed to purchase a property in 2017. 

However, fate had different plans. 

A devastating fire shattered her dreams and compelled her to temporarily put her vision on hold. Instead, she turned her attention back towards a career in teaching, yet her passion for writing and commitment to education persisted—an unwavering flame.

Then, the world was turned on its head.

In 2020, inspired by an email from her sister and fueled by her lifelong love for writing, Jeannine Cook embarked on her most ambitious project yet. She compiled and published an anthology of short stories titled “Conversations with Harriett.” Significantly, she chose to spell Tubman’s first name with two T’s, a tribute to the legendary figure, who chose to spell her name with that specific spelling. This project marked a crucial step toward realizing her vision of creating a space where voices previously unheard would find their place.

Undeterred by the setbacks and challenges that life had thrown her way, Jeannine Cook continued her pursuit of opening a bookstore. She stumbled upon another vacant storefront in Fishtown, signed a lease, and, in January 2020, Harriett’s Bookshop quietly opened its doors to the public. What set it apart was an unmistakable storefront adorned with a banner featuring the store’s logo, a machete blade boldly cutting through the word “Harriet’s.” In a neighborhood steeped in history and tradition, Harriett’s became a breath of fresh air, a place where books authored by Black women took center stage.

The establishment of a bookstore in Fishtown posed a unique set of challenges. Friends and relatives initially expressed reservations about the location, given Fishtown’s historical identity rooted in the working class fish merchant industry—a sector notably dominated by white immigrants. The very location of Harriett’s Bookshop served as a symbolic challenge, especially when the tumultuous year of 2020 and the deaths of countless black citizens brought the fight of the Black Lives Matter Movement to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness. Cook knew that this was something she couldn’t shy away from. The nation needed a wake-up call, and by God were they about to get one.

In the face of a global pandemic and the wave of protests ignited by the police killing of George Floyd, Harriett’s Bookshop remained a vocal advocate for change. Jeannine Cook utilized the bookstore’s social media platform to amplify her message, sharing powerful images that included one of herself kneeling for nine minutes in front of a line of police officers. This powerful gesture was a solemn reminder of George Floyd’s tragic death, a symbol of solidarity with a cause that transcended the confines of a bookstore.

The pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests served to test the resilience of Harriett’s Bookshop, yet it never wavered. Instead, it became an essential part of the community, fostering trust and creating a safe space for minority communities within Fishtown. Harriett’s Bookshop transformed from a mere retail space into a symbol of hope and unity.

When the pandemic struck in 2020, Harriett’s Bookshop had been in business for a mere six weeks. As any person alive during 2020 (that’s you!) would know, the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the nation and and was the Grim Reaper knocking on the front door of hundreds, if not thousands of small businesses around the country. Bookstores were no exception to this culling, as many struggled to find an audience during the pandemic, and didn’t have the live and interactive customer base that small, indie stores thrive on (Time.com)

This posed a significant threat to the fledgling business. However, Harriett’s didn’t back down.


COVID is all we know. We opened in February and had to shut down in mid-March. Our whole existence has been with COVID by our side in some way. Also, the uprisings in the country have had an effect on our business as well. We’ve only known the roller coaster.”

Cook – Technical.ly.com

Cook set up tables outside the shop, along with a donation box on an “honors system,” placing her trust in the local community to support essential workers by purchasing books. She even made headlines by delivering books door-to-door on horseback, a testament to her unwavering commitment to her community.

Jeannine Cook’s commitment to her community eventually led to the establishment of “Harriett’s House,” a dedicated space for gathering, learning, and healing. Through a successful GoFundMe campaign, she raised the necessary funds to purchase a larger building in Fishtown, ensuring her vision for the bookstore’s future. This space would be nearly three times larger than the original store, allowing for more extensive community engagement and programming.

Harriett’s Bookshop is not just a bookstore; it’s a testament to the power of perseverance, the resilience of the human spirit, and the impact of a dedicated community leader. Jeannine Cook’s journey, from a young admirer of Harriett Tubman to a passionate educator and entrepreneur, embodies the transformation of a “place” in Fishtown. In the insightful words of the author of “Liberation through Literacy,” Joshua Clark Davis, “Black booksellers positioned their stores as a new generation of black public spaces, welcoming a wide range of customers, activists, and curious community members. Like other active businesses, black booksellers understood their shops as free spaces or sites of liberation and empowerment” (Davis, 37). These words resonate strongly with the story of Harriett’s Bookshop and the indomitable spirit of its owner. Harriett’s Bookshop was established with a mission identical to the black bookstores of the 1960s, during the peak of the civil rights movement, to which the sentiments expressed by Davis describe.

Cook’s unwavering dedication to celebrating Black culture, amplifying diverse voices, and creating a tight-knit literary community mirrors the very essence of the quote. Her perseverance in the face of challenges reflects the understanding that black booksellers played a crucial role in fostering spaces of empowerment and liberation for their communities. Harriett’s has redefined the very essence of this historic neighborhood, challenging norms, celebrating diversity, and embracing the voices of Black women.

As “Harriett’s House” takes shape, Harriett’s Bookshop is poised to become an even greater beacon of hope, a space where ideas, stories, and change converge. It symbolizes the relentless pursuit of a dream, the resilience to weather storms, and the unwavering commitment to the community. Harriett’s Bookshop is more than a bookstore; it’s a testament to the enduring power of literature and the transformative impact of a visionary leader. As Cook continues to fight for a National Holiday celebrating Harriett Tubman, the woman that inspired the creation of this store and all the good that has come forth since its birth, let her perseverance  reaffirm her store’s role as a nexus of social progress, where history, culture, and advocacy intertwine to shape a brighter future.

Research and Images Taken from:

Beck, Tom. “Historians, Community Advocates Fret over the Future of Former Penn Home Building in Fishtown.” Star News, 14 Oct. 2020, starnewsphilly.com/2020/10/13/historians-community-advocates-fret-over-the-future-of-former-penn-home-building-in-fishtown/. 

Butler, Michael. “Harriett’s Bookshop Owner Jeannine Cook Uses Resilience to Write Her Own Story.” Technical.Ly, Technically Media, 16 Aug. 2023, technical.ly/diversity-equity-inclusion/harriets-bookshop-jeannine-cook/. 

Chow, Andrew R., and Annabel Gutterman. “How Coronavirus Is Affecting Independent Bookstores.” Time, Time, 22 Apr. 2020, time.com/5822767/coronavirus-bookstores-amazon/. 

Davis, Joshua. “Liberation through Literacy.” From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs, Columbia University Press, New York, 2020. 

Harrietts Bookshop (@harrietts_bookshop) – Instagram, www.instagram.com/harrietts_bookshop/. Accessed 9 Oct. 2023. 

“Harriett’s Bookshop Seeking Permanent Home in Fishtown.” PhillyVoice, 3 May 2021, www.phillyvoice.com/harriets-bookshop-fishtown-philadelphia-gofundme-jeannine-cook/. 

Nentwig, Lee. “Jeannine Cook on Harriett’s Bookshop and Upcoming ‘Sisterhood Sit-In.’” NKCDC, 1 Dec. 2020, nkcdc.org/harrietts-bookshop/. 

“Prizm® Premier.” Claritas, claritas360.claritas.com/mybestsegments/#zipLookup. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023. 

“Race and Ethnicity in ZIP Code 19125, Pennsylvania (ZIP Code).” The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States – Statistical Atlas, statisticalatlas.com/zip/19125/Race-and-Ethnicity. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023. 

TodayShow. “Bookstore Named after Harriet Tubman Celebrates Women Authors, Artists and Activists.” TODAY.Com, TODAY, 12 Apr. 2021, www.today.com/money/philadelphia-s-harriett-s-bookshop-celebrates-women-color-authors-t214023. 

Winberg, Michaela. “She Was Told Not to Open a Black-Owned Bookstore in Fishtown. She’s Doing It Anyway.” Billy Penn at WHYY, 17 Jan. 2023, billypenn.com/2020/01/18/she-was-told-not-to-open-a-black-owned-bookstore-in-fishtown-shes-doing-it-anyway/. 

“With Harriett’s Bookshop, Jeannine Cook Honoring Women Authors ‘under the Guiding Light of Harriet Tubman.’” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 4 May 2021, www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/harrietts-bookshop-jeannine-cook-fishtown-open-for-business/. 

Midtown Scholar: A History of Community Engagement

Midtown Scholar: A History of Community Engagement

Midtown Scholar resides in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg, which is an area of rich history and diversity. 

The Story of Midtown

Midtown Scholar Bookstore is in the Midtown neighborhood of Harrisburg, which is nestled between Downtown and Uptown. The neighborhood’s southern border is Forster Street, with Maclay Street to the north, 7th Street to the east, and the Susquehanna River to the west (“Districts”). Prior to the 1970’s, the area was marked by economic struggle and building vacancies. However, in 1977, the Midtown Square Action Council was created to improve the community’s interests, and they began popularizing the name Midtown. Between 1980 and 2000, the neighborhood began to improve economically, with the median income increasing from today’s $30,000 to $40,000. Additionally, the age of the population fell to over half of the residents being below the age of 35. The population also became more racially and ethnically diverse, with the majority of residents being Black or African American (Stabert). 

The exterior of Midtown Scholar Bookstore
Image taken from Publishers Weekly

Due to its close proximity to the state capital, many young professionals were drawn to this neighborhood. Over the years, new businesses drew people to Midtown with unique forms of entertainment and satisfying restaurant options. Oddly enough, many of these fan favorites dawn the name ‘Midtown’ into their titles. Aside from Midtown Scholar, Midtown Cinema opened around the same time to provide locals with both mainstream movies and lesser-known foreign films. There are also places like Midtown Tavern that adopted the name following the neighborhood’s newfound popularity. 

Today, the demographics of this area have remained relatively stagnant with a primarily Black or African American population of young people around the age of 30. These residents have a median income of about $44,444, which is not far from the numbers during their growth period from 1980 to 2000. 

The Birth of an Online Business 

Our story starts with two young intellectuals named Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence who met while in graduate school at Yale University. Their love story was built on a love for books, and they spent most weekends scouring bookstores for their next favorite read. However, upon their graduation from Yale, the couple relocated to the Harrisburg area. The year was 1999 and both Papenfuse and Lawrence had secured teaching positions in the area, with her working at Messiah College and him teaching Latin temporarily at Central Dauphin High School (Bedell and Landesberg). 

Once they found a house, the couple quickly realized they did not have much use for their collection of 100 to 150 university textbooks; and they certainly did not have the storage space for them. To solve this debacle, Papenfuse began selling his used books online at Amazon.com. Many of his books sold quickly, which convinced him there may be a market online for used books, especially academic ones. By January 2001, Papenfuse was selling books online from the comfort of his home in the Shipoke neighborhood (Bedell and Landesberg).

In terms of book selling, academic texts are generally always in high demand. This is because students have no control over what books are required for a course, that is entirely up to the professor’s discretion. Therefore, the sellers of these texts can mark university textbooks at alarmingly high prices because students will always need to buy them. This is where used academic book selling comes in handy because they are usually discounted compared to brand new copies, thus appealing to lower income college students. Papenfuse was able to profit from this need by curating a stock of used books that him and Lawrence acquired from local bookstores, library sales, and university presses. University presses proved to be very useful for the creation of their business because these types of publishers tend to print fewer copies than larger publishing houses. Therefore, by building strong relationships with these presses Papenfuse and Lawrence were able to have a steady flow of material to offer their customers (Bedell and Landesberg).

Becoming a Physical Place

As time passed and their business grew, Papenfuse and Lawrence realized their house in Shipoke could no longer withstand the steady influx of inventory. So, in 2002 they bought and began renovating the old Midtown Post Office building at 1519 N. Third Street, which became the first physical address for Midtown Scholar. Once they centralized their business in Midtown, the couple made it a point to cater their inventory to the community they were serving. Since the area was booming with diverse, young professionals, they stocked books dedicated to arts, photography, urban affairs, and African American studies (Bedell and Landesberg). This is a policy that Midtown Scholar has held onto since its inception. According to the store’s mission statement, they have “worked to transform our community by providing a welcoming space for the discussion and exchange of ideas about books, politics, arts and culture, and history (“About Us”). 

Midtown Scholar found itself in a constant cycle of growth that was marked by the ever-present need to purchase new spaces. Over the years, Papenfuse and Lawrence have bought and rented several storage units and buildings to house their constantly growing collection of products. Eventually, they were forced to close their original 3,000-square-foot building to expand down the street to a 10,000-square-foot space. On September 13, 2009, they reopened at 1302 N. Third Street. This new space allowed them to carry around 100,000 volumes, a café, a stage for author events and musical performances, and an art gallery (Bedell and Landesberg). 

Poster for 2023 Harrisburg Book Festival
Taken from Midtown Scholar Bookstore

Engaging the Community 

These new additions to Midtown Scholar allowed them to better serve their community by bringing interesting events to their doorstep. The store has hosted a slew of famous authors, like Frederick Backman and Erik Larson. However, arguably the largest way Midtown Scholar has continued to uplift its area is through the creation of the Harrisburg Book Festival, which Papenfuse and Lawrence launched in 2009. Although the project started small, it has grown into a book-themed spectacle that celebrates all things literature with a weeklong schedule of panels, author events, book signings, and children’s programs (Beeck). 

The success of Midtown Scholar as a community cornerstone can be marked by Papenfuse’s political career. He served as the mayor of Harrisburg from 2014 to 2022 and calls his bookstore “a place for civic engagement and a catalyst for urban development” (Beeck). 

Preserving the History

The city of Harrisburg and the Midtown neighborhood are both packed with examples of 19th and 20th century architecture, and Midtown Scholar is no different. In the current store, Papenfuse and Lawrence have made it a point to keep much of the original architecture from the former theatre and department store to honor the community’s history. For example, a portion of the original 1897 department store’s decal, the Boston Store, can be seen inside Midtown Scholar (Bassert). 

Taken from The Constant Rambler

Another example of Midtown Scholar’s historical preservations is the ornate bell that hangs from its ceiling, which is sometimes rung for special occasions. When Papenfuse was first elected, the sound of the bell tolling could be heard throughout Midtown (Bassert). 

The Motives of Midtown Scholar

Midtown Scholar’s dedication to fostering civic engagement and promoting free thinking made me immediately think of Archibald MacLeish’s assertions about books in “A Free Man’s Books”, particularly his claim that books are weapons. He specifically described books as “weapons of such edge and weight and power that those who would destroy the world of freedom must first destroy the books that freedom fights with” (MacLeish 6). Midtown Scholar’s mission statement, mentioned above, inadvertently acknowledges the fact that books generally have agendas, and these agendas can impact how a person thinks or acts. This is done by focusing on ideas surrounding politics and culture and promoting these ideas within their inventory by shelving titles that feature African American studies and political engagement. 

Image taken from TripAdvisor

However, as I ponder the agenda of Midtown Scholar, I cannot help noticing that these are white booksellers serving a predominantly Black community. Papenfuse and Lawrence realize their store is in a diverse area because they make it a point to stock up on books that focus on diversity. This then led me to considering Joshua Clark Davis’ claims in “Liberation Through Literacy.” During this piece, Davis explains that once Black and African American literature gained popularity in America, chain stores and white booksellers began selling these titles for cheaper prices than Black booksellers to make an easy profit (Davis 67). This forced many Black bookstores out of business, which made me consider Midtown Scholar’s dedication to Black literature. Are they just trying to give their community the content that best reflects their identities? Or are they attempting to make a profit off their diverse community? There’s no way to know the answer to this, but it does make me wonder if a Black-owned bookstore opened in Midtown, would it give Midtown Scholar a run for their money? 

Works Cited

“About Us.” Midtown Scholar Bookstore-Cafe, 2023, www.midtownscholar.com/history-and-mission. 

Bassart, Lauren. “Why Everyone Should Visit Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, PA.” The Constant Rambler., 30 July 2014, www.theconstantrambler.com/midtown-scholar-bookstore-harrisburg-pa/. 

Bedell, Doug, and Phil Landesberg. “Midtown Scholar Bookstore Owners Cover Business on Internet, in Shop.” ProQuest, Central Penn Business Journal, 6 Apr. 2007, libgateway.susqu.edu/login?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fmidtown-scholar-bookstore-owners-cover-business%2Fdocview%2F236300397%2Fse-2%3Faccountid. 

Beeck, Nathalie op de. “U.S. Book Show 2023: Midtown Scholar.” PublishersWeekly.Com, Publishers Weekly, 12 May 2023, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/92294-u-s-book-show-2023-midtown-scholar.html#:~:text=They%20entered%20the%20bricks%2Dand,bookstores%20in%20Cambridge%20or%20Georgetown%2C. 

Davis, John Clark. “Liberation Through Literacy .” From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs , p. 67. 

“Districts.” Explore HBG, www.explorehbg.com/neighborhoods/#:~:text=Midtown%20Harrisburg%20is%20delineated%20by,Susquehanna%20River%20to%20the%20west. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023. 

MacLeish , Archibald. A Free Man’s Book

Stabert, Lee. “Rebirth in Midtown Harrisburg.” Keystone Edge – What’s Next & Best in Pennsylvania – Growth, Innovation, and Community News, 17 May 2016, www.keystoneedge.com/2016/05/17/rebirth-in-midtown-harrisburg/. 

Veronikis, Eric. “Midtown Scholar Set to Reopen in Bigger Space.” ProQuest, Central Penn Business Journal , 21 Aug. 2009, libgateway.susqu.edu/login?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fmidtown-scholar-set-reopen-bigger-space%2Fdocview%2F236378901%2Fse-2%3Faccountid. 

Midtown Scholar: Expanding Onward While Looking Back

Midtown Scholar: Expanding Onward While Looking Back

You wouldn’t expect a bookstore as established as Midtown Scholar to have only been around for two decades. However, the history of this building and the surrounding area is rich and established. Nestled in the midtown of Harrisburg, in a building that served first as a 1920s style theater and second as a 1950s Boston Department Store, Midtown Scholar melds the two looks of the building’s past into its own unique blend; from the art deco neon signage above the store to the “Boston” department store name preserved on their storefront walk-in (Association). It strives to preserve the history that came before it the same as it cements itself as a staple of Harrisburg’s modern history.

Midtown Scholar’s timeline begins back in the late 1920s when the building that would house the independent bookstore/cafe opened as Central PA’s first non-segregated movie theater (pawalkworks.com). In the present day, where Harrisburg has a rich and diverse population and much effort has been made to elevate the voices of those citizens, discovering that the roots of Midtown Scholar were ahead of their time and striving for equality seemed to be a fitting parallel. In fact, Catherine Lawrence, one of the two married owners of Midtown Scholar, discussed the intentionality of their store’s emphasis on diversity while they were a “Bookstore of the Year” finalist.

“We’ve been very intentional about having a diverse group of what we call ‘famous authors.’ We put new releases, classic works, and works of criticism there. We’re an urban-based store and a majority-minority city, and we have shelves upon shelves of Black history with great scholarly depth.”

-Catherine Lawrence (Publishers Weekly)

The concept of an academic bookstore with emphasis on elevating the diverse voices of the population that frequents it is not an uncommon one. As Davis quotes from Maulana Karenga in Liberation Through Literacy, “Nationalism demands study. Show me a true nationalist and I’ll show you someone who studies” (Davis, 37). The link between activism and academia is undeniable, and the history of Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg has always been a source of such activism, whether that be opening the first interracial movie theater in PA, or contributing to education and diversification past that of the mainstream white canon. 

The building’s past as Harrisburg’s first split-level department store in the 1950s can be found in the lighting fixtures and the architectural foundation of the building itself (Constant Rambler). The co-owners’ preservation of the building’s history is an admirable feat and one that becomes quite clear when walking around the inside of Midtown, now spanning six floors full of academic, historical, and additional genre books. Those genre books are a newer addition as Midtown grows and changes with the population around it. A cafe and a bakery now reside in the expanded building, without overtaking the architectural decisions made in the past. This focus on the historical preservation of the building and surrounding area cements the bookstore’s sense of place within the community and keeps bits of the past alive. 

A photo taken of the Boston Department Store in the 1950s. This was well before Midtown Scholar moved into the building and expanded to fill the building pictured to the left of Boston’s as well.

Midtown Scholar was established in 2001 after the Boston Department Store shut down and the building became available. Under the founding and co-ownership of married couple Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse, Midtown Scholar, a place for used and new books, came to life. Papenfuse was a local businessman and politician who was elected as the 38th mayor of Harrisburg from 2014 to 2022, well after the establishment of the bookstore. It must have been incredibly relieving to the community to understand so much about his morals and politics from the years they had seen him at Midtown Scholar already. What had started for him and his wife as a small walkup used bookstore and online e-commerce site turned into what we now see it as today, a massive bookstore with a deep care for the community’s history and a strong urge to bring people together (Publishers Weekly). In fact, Papenfuse stated that “It all began with a pile of books in our dining room,” and their business had grown from a used-book online portal to 15,000 square feet of retail space with a staff of fifty (Publishers Weekly). This revitalization of the neighborhood, including the renovation of a former post office next door, demonstrated their commitment to Harrisburg “as a destination for literary culture and political debate,” and encouraged the growth of an educated and activist population, much like that which came before it (Publishers Weekly).

A photo taken from the balcony outside of Midtown Scholar, where there is additional seating offered for those who have purchased items at the cafe or who simply wish to sit and talk.

One notable example of the community that Midtown Scholar curates in Harrisburg can be found no further than the Harrisburg Book Festival, an annual festival launched in 2009 by Midtown Scholar to celebrate the power of literature and its ability to unite, delight, and inspire (Midtown Scholar). Much like the popularity and influence of the store, this fest grew in size each year, and they eventually named Alex Brubaker as its director. This yearly attraction not only serves to energize the local community, but the influence and intrigue of the traveling authors speaking at the fest draw in a crowd to Harrisburg, who then are able to partake in the local cuisine, wander the streets, and interact with other parts of the town. The 2023 festival now includes featured authors, a full day of children’s programming, a used-book tent sale, and writing workshops, not only encouraging literary thinking, but thought of how the world around us interacts with itself and these concepts (Publishers Weekly). 

In fact, this expansion of the Harrisburg Book Festival, under the launch of Midtown Scholar, mimics the way in which the store has branched out to curate a larger community than just those who read. Midtown Scholar has engaged with the creative community at large in ways that mimic the surrounding area of Harrisburg, which is filled with muralistic work. The bookstore actually includes their own mural, depicting Sunset at Riverfront Park (Bassart). The preservation of this mural was held in high regard during their expansion, carefully moved to its current location. As Jenison says in Sunwise Turn, “As soon as you begin to think of books as life they connect up with art,” and Midtown Scholar exemplifies that at every turn, merging the worlds of art and literature, as well as the worlds of academia and advocacy (Jenison, 21). This bookstore serves within the community as a meeting space, a place to make ideas and to engage with other literary-minded individuals. Open cafe tables incite conversation, and events of all kinds are hosted within the store itself. The store treats books as life and lets their community find the art within. It strives to reach people of all ages and backgrounds, children and adults alike, and to engage with the creative side of their minds, much like the festival expanded to better encompass the diverse audience it served. 

Despite this long-running festival’s popularity and expansion, when COVID-19 hit, the festival was shifted to a virtual experience. This did little to dissuade the community of literary-minded individuals who were interested in it, however, and the festival had four years of virtual community-building before it became slated to take place in person again in October of 2023. This would not have been possible without the population’s commitment to keeping the literary side of Harrisburg alive, and the idea that books connect art and life, leading to a more enriching experience on all sides. 

A photo taken and used in promotion of the 11th annual Harrisburg Book Festival. One can note the expanded storefronts and see how this compares both to the photo illustrating the building’s past as the Boston Department Store, as well as the art deco signage reminiscent of the 1920’s movie theatre the building originally served as.

Past Midtown Scholar’s success with community building, they have also been nominated for multiple awards over the last two decades. Publishers Weekly crowned them its 31st annual Bookstore of the Year at the virtually produced U.S. Book Show on May 22 (Publishers Weekly). They have also been voted “Simply the Best” independent bookstore for the past 18 consecutive years. These accolades, while less personal than the impact that they have on the individual consumer who stops by to admire one chunk of Harrisburg’s rich history, still emphasize an agreement that Midtown Scholar has established itself as a prime resource, destination, and gathering place for the community around it. 

I admired the decision for Midtown Scholar to keep so much of the businesses and history that make up its roots on display, while still growing in the modern day with its consumers and community. I found myself particularly fond of the way they went about preserving the history of the building through signage and architecture without holding themselves back from expansion of genre, media forms, and community engagement. 

Sources Cited

Websites:

U.S. book show 2023: Midtown scholar, Emily Bates named PW Bookstore, rep of the year. PublishersWeekly.com. (2023, May 22). https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/92371-u-s-book-show-2023-midtown-scholar-emily-bates-named-pw-bookstore-rep-of-the-year.html#:~:text=Publishers%20Weekly%20crowned%20its%2031st,PW’s%20Bookstore%20of%20the%20Year.

Midtown Scholar. (n.d.-b). Midtown scholar bookstore-cafe. Midtown Scholar Bookstore-Cafe. https://www.midtownscholar.com/

Bassart, L. (2014, July 30). Why everyone should visit midtown scholar bookstore in Harrisburg, PA. The Constant Rambler. https://www.theconstantrambler.com/midtown-scholar-bookstore-harrisburg-pa/

Association, H. H. (2021). 1302 N. 3rd street: Then & now. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/1302-n-3rd-street-now-historic-harrisburg-association?trk=organization-update-content_share-article

pawalkworks.com. (n.d.). Capitol Complex Route. Harrisburg; PA Walkworks.

Books:

Davis, Joshua Clark. From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs. New York City, Columbia University Press, n.d..

Jenison, M. (1993). Sunwise Turn: A human comedy of Bookselling. Booksellers House.

Images:

Historic Harrisburg Association. (n.d.). 1302 N. 3rd Street: Then and Now. photograph, Harrisburg.

Me. Photo of Midtown Scholar Hanging Sign. (2023). photograph, Harrisburg.

Midtown Scholar. (n.d.). Harrisburg Book Festival. photograph, Harrisburg.

Timeline:

Free Online Timeline Maker, time.graphics/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2023.

Isolation in Intersectionality: How Cafe Con Libros is Breaking Boundaries in Crown Heights

Isolation in Intersectionality: How Cafe Con Libros is Breaking Boundaries in Crown Heights

Photo from Poets & Writers

On the corner of Prospect Place and Rogers Avenue sits a dog kennel, a beauty salon, a restaurant, and a small bookstore café called Café con Libros. The large windows display rows of books as they sit under the black awning that declares in bold white lettering, “Black, Feminist, & Bookish.” It is here that Kalima DeSuze began her journey of creating a feminist bookstore, while also offering a space for intersectional cooperation.

The location of Café con Libros was not chosen by chance. DeSuze had been a resident of the area, known as Crown Heights, for most of her life, living with her Panamanian immigrant parents (Giwa). The actual building of Café con Libros was also owned by a relative, Linda DeSuze, dating back to 1985 (NYC Dept.). It seemed only right for DeSuze to start this passion project in a community she had grown up in, where she knew what kind of bookstore it needed. DeSuze talks about how her goal with Café con Libros was to create a space where intersectional identities can be represented through literature (Alcantara). Intersectionality can be an isolating experience, particularly in a neighborhood such as Crown Heights, where the community is mainly Afro-Caribbean and/or Jewish (“Crown Heights”)

“I think that one of the things that I am very, very, very conscious of is the lack or the scarcity of Afro-Latina voices in larger storytelling”

Kalima DeSuze, owner of Cafe con Libros (Alcantara)

Being the daughter of Panamanian immigrants can also become isolating because of the history of Crown Heights and its demographics. The population of Afro-Caribbean and Jewish families began long before DeSuze’s parents arrived, or even before they were born. The settlement of the region began in the 1830s with two small villages founded by freed African Americans, called Weeksville and Carrville, where a large free Black population grew (Schaefer 350). When the villages were destroyed during the urbanization of the area in the late 1910s, Crown Heights became home to “an upwardly mobile, rapidly assimilating elite of Eastern European Jews and other White European immigrants” (Schaefer 350). A boom in population came in the 1940s and 1950s, when “these established residents were joined by the communities that have come to make up today’s Crown Heights: Hasidic Jews, arriving in New York as Holocaust refugees, and Black migrants, both African American and Afro-Caribbean, drawn in part by the city’s booming wartime economy” (Schaefer 350).

Crown Heights begins as a place for freed Black people in the United States, yet it turns into an intersectional neighborhood as time wears on, leading to some inevitable conflicts. On August 19, 1991, a vehicle driven by a Jewish man lost control and hit two Black children, killing one and severely injuring the other. The Black community rallied around the death of this Black child, claiming injustice regarding the medical care given to the children compared to the Jewish driver and his Jewish passengers. By the time night had fallen, an angry crowd had gathered, and at 11:25 p.m., police found the body of a Hasidic Jew stabbed on Kingston Avenue by two Black youths who had left the angry crowd looking for revenge (Chang et al.). Over the next few days, Black and Jewish protestors alike gathered to hurl insults, as well as rocks and bottles, at each other. Accusing one of racism, and the other of anti-Semitism in what would be known to history as the Crown Heights riots, which lasted until August 21.

Photo from TIME Magazine

These riots were the result of two communities, both victims of oppression, wanting justice for their friends and family. Yet this shows the difficulties that can arise when intersectionality is not embraced but resisted. When DeSuze’s Panamanian parents arrived in the United States, it was before these riots occurred, according to New York State property records, meaning they most likely saw this conflict happen in their neighborhood (NYC Dept.). The isolation that they must have felt, being not only new to the community but also Afro-Latinx immigrants, during a time when one identity was battling another. Both the Black community and the Jewish community had been mostly settled there for decades, following the immigration boom in the 40s and 50s, yet the DeSuze family sat in the middle of it all, Latinx, Black, and recent immigrants. It also feels important to note that the building that would become Café con Libros (724 Prospect Place) was still owned by relative Linda DeSuze at this time and was located just four blocks West of the street where these riots occurred.

When Kalima DeSuze decides to open Café con Libros, it’s no mystery as to why she is empowering feminist and Afro-Latina voices. DeSuze is bringing to light intersectional identities that felt unseen and unheard in literature and Crown Heights. Daphne Spain expresses the importance of diverse female stories to the feminist movement in the 1970s, stating that “Feminist bookstores sustained and enriched the women’s movement when they disseminated literature by women of differing cultures, ethnicities, races, and sexual preferences” (89). This principle is still effective in the modern day through DeSuze’s bookstore. By creating a space dedicated to uplifting the writing and experiences of women of color, she is not only enriching the feminist movement but also enriching the neighborhood by embracing intersectional identities. She is actively creating a space for people like her, who felt so isolated in a neighborhood where identities are divided cleanly from one another by a history of violence and tension.

Spain’s idea of the rebellion involved in feminist bookstores is based on the rebellion found in women reading at all. She states in her text that “a woman who could read might threaten the social order, especially if it was one that denied women access to books,” such as many religions, as well as slaves in the United States before the Civil War (Spain 89). In this light, Café con Libros is the ultimate expression of rebellion and feminism by uplifting the stories of intersectional women, most of whom would have been prohibited from reading if you go back far enough in history. The isolation of the intersectional feminist is abolished within the walls of this cozy bookshop.

DeSuze was not an experienced businesswoman when she decided to open Café con Libros. Like many owners of activist bookstores, she was involved in social change. When you take a look at her resume, DeSuze wields two social work degrees, work with domestic violence survivors, programs for female veterans, and many other projects uplifting marginalized groups (Kobert). The social activist as a bookstore owner is not a new concept, as we can see with past feminist bookstores, but also with Black bookstores during the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. Black-owned bookstores provided “spaces to a wide range of African Americans, including activist groups wishing to hold meetings and distribute their own locally produced media and flyers” (Davis 37). The boom of these bookstores was not led by people who had business degrees and were after a profitable enterprise, in fact, “most of the entrepreneurs who operated black-interest bookstores…had extensive backgrounds in leftist and black nationalist politics” (Davis 38). DeSuze is enriching the feminist movement as well as the antiracist movement with her little bookstore and café, simply by existing in this neighborhood full of intersectional individuals. By combining the activism of the feminist bookstore and the Black bookstore, she is bringing together a community of individuals who may not have had a community before.

Photo taken by Chris Setter, from Medium.

After the initial opening of Café con Libros, DeSuze continued to expand her website and community impact through book clubs, blogs, and podcasts. January 16, 2018, shortly after the grand opening, the Feminist Book Club began having meetings via Zoom (“Intersectional”). This book club is currently listed as being on hiatus for 2023, but DeSuze continues to host a Womxn of Color book club on the fourth Sunday of every month. Outside of this DeSuze also has a podcast featured on the Café con Libros website titled “Leyendo la Diaspora,” or “Reading the Diaspora” in English. In this podcast, DeSuze works with Johanna Burgos to discuss the works written by members of the “Latinx diaspora” (“Intersectional”). And yet, there’s more. DeSuze also features a blog on the website called “Pages,” where she writes about social issues that are important to her such as Asian Hate, mental illness, and the murder of Breonna Taylor. All of these elements work together to create what DeSuze wants; a place where everyone can come and be heard. She is reaching feminists and women of color across the country through her blog and podcast, bringing together those who once felt isolated and making her bookstore a community-focused space.

Here we can see the history of DeSuze and her outreach to the community through Cafe Con Libros

DeSuze brings new meaning to old principles with Café con Libros by combining the activism of Black bookstores from the Civil Rights era with the intersectionality of the feminist bookstores of the 1970s, tying it all together with her personal experiences and struggles. It is because of DeSuze and the principles she stands for with Café con Libros that I cannot imagine this lovely little shop being located anywhere else. It embraces the intersectionality that provoked riots over 30 years ago, creating a space for those who feel isolated within their identity. No one social movement can be isolated from others; by uplifting the antiracist movement we must also uplift the feminist movement, and vice versa. Kalima DeSuze is working hard to bring this idea to Crown Heights, and by doing so working to heal the wounds that remain from riots and accusations of the past.

Sources:

Information/History

Alcantara, Amanda. “Meet the Owner of Café Con Libros, a Feminist Bookstore in Brooklyn.” BESE, 4 Mar. 2018, www.bese.com/meet-the-owner-of-cafe-con-librosa-feminist-bookstore-in-brooklyn/#:~:text=It%20sits%20next%20to%20a,itself%20as%20feminist%20could%20thrive.

Chang, Dean, et al. “Fatal Crash Sparks Crown Heights Riots in 1991.” New York Daily News, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 1991, www.nydailynews.com/2016/08/18/fatal-crash-sparks-crown-heights-riots-in-1991/.  

“Crown Heights/Prospect Heights Neighborhood Profile.” NYU Furman Center, furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/crown-heights-prospect-heights. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Davis, Joshua C. “Liberation Through Literacy.” From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs, Colombia University Press, 2017, pp. 35-82.

Giwa, Cynthia. “Cafe Con Libros.” Black-Owned Brooklyn, 1 Mar. 2018, www.blackownedbrooklyn.com/stories/cafe-con-libros.   

“Intersectional Feminist Bookstore: Cafe Con Libros: New York.” Cafe Con Libros, www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.

Kobert, Rebecca. “Badass Women: Kalima DeSuze, founder of feminist bookstore, Café con Libros.” Medium, 28 Jun. 2018. https://medium.com/coconuts/badass-women-kalima-desuze-founder-of-feminist-bookstore-cafe-con-libros-c64e0f8ed358.

NYC Department of Finance, Office of the City Register. Deed to 724 Prospect Place. Automated City Register Information System, 5 December 1985, https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentDetail?doc_id=FT_3010009032901.  

NYC Department of Finance, Office of the City Register. Deed to 724 Prospect Place. Automated City Register Information System, 7 November 2007, https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentImageView?doc_id=2007103000371001.

Schaefer, Richard T. Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. SAGE, 2008.

Spain, Daphne. “Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City, Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 84-110.

Images

An argument between a Hasidic Jew and a black man. “The Alliance Between America’s Black and Jewish Activists Has Long Been Troubled” by Arica Coleman, 22 Aug. 2016. TIME, https://time.com/4460730/crown-heights-anniversary-blm-platform/.

Exterior of Café con Libros. “Café con Libros” 23 Jun. 2023. Poets & Writers, https://www.pw.org/literary_places/cafe_con_libros.

Setter, Chris. Book club meeting. “Badass Women: Kalima DeSuze, founder of feminist bookstore, Cafe con Libros” by Rebecca Kobert, 28 Jun. 2018. Medium, https://medium.com/coconuts/badass-women-kalima-desuze-founder-of-feminist-bookstore-cafe-con-libros-c64e0f8ed358.

Timeline

Timeline made by Megan DeAngelo using Time.graphics.

People & Place: Midtown Scholar’s Indelible Influence

People & Place: Midtown Scholar’s Indelible Influence

First opened in 2001 by married couple Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse, the Midtown Scholar Bookstore has grown from a humble book retailer to what can best be described as a trove of literature; with six floors in the present location carrying over 200,000 rare, used, and unique texts, any patron would be forgiven for losing track of time within its walls. Additionally, Midtown Scholar contains two cafes within its sprawling halls, providing visitors with ample refreshments and a foyer to enjoy them in. Outside of the collections it houses and shops within, Lawrence and Papenfuse also sought to change the community in which the bookstore resides for the better, spreading grassroots transformation through the medium of literature. The owners cite an interview they participated in on their website, saying that “Ideas change people’s minds and affect people’s directions and sensibilities – tie people together or fracture them apart – and so, books transform,” showing that they wish to foster a comfortable space where people can discover more than just their next favorite title (History and Mission).

Heavily contrasting the elitist concepts covered in Laura Miller’s Reluctant Capitalists, the owners have consistently sought to foster a sense of community in spite of organized booksellers and chains that continue to have a stranglehold on the field; rather than removing the human aspect like many chains have chosen to do, Lawrence and Papenfuse instead sought to characterize their storefront in the diverse image of Harrisburg, welcoming those from all walks of life. Even the layout of the store contrasts all standardized notions of what a bookstore “should” be, the sprawling shelves and spiraling levels don’t make it the easiest to locate a specific text, but may just lead you to finding something new altogether.

Looking at the demographics of Midtown, the neighborhood in Harrisburg this bookstore is located in, we quickly realize there’s a stark contrast in the people that live here– a sizable percent of individuals here make less than $15,000, with even more making between $35k and $75k; moreover, a majority of the population of Midtown is made up of people between the ages of 25 and 44, with a notable amount being those above 65 years of age. Generally speaking, this area is populated more with singles and married couples than families with children, though families make up a small percent– this lack of family has likely contributed to the abundance of humanities and social spots within walking distance of each other.

From a geographical point of view, Midtown Scholar is located directly in the middle of a diverse community of individuals from different backgrounds, incomes, and heritages. Immediately surrounding the storefront are multiple shops including grocery markets, cafes, and retail shopping centers, highlighting the frequent traffic this area gets. Moreover, a majority of the landmarks surrounding Midtown Scholar are social or interactive spaces; museums, art galleries, yoga, taverns, and more– the topography of this area heavily suggests that this is a flourishing community, deeply invested in the arts and humanities. For readers who prefer a crisp breeze over an armchair by the fireplace, there are three outdoor parks and gardens within walking distance of the bookstore, allowing one to read their titles wherever they’re most comfortable. Not as prominent as other features in this neighborhood, housing is largely centralized in townhouses, with larger living complexes like the Linden Terrace Apartments towards the Susquehanna River also taking up a good chunk of the population. As mentioned above, worship centers in this area are largely Christian, with an international, non-denominational house of worship not far from Midtown Scholar. Community highlights of the arts and humanities include galleries such as Vivi on Verbeke, a painting gallery with assorted sculptures of what can best be described as a clash of nature and americana, or Pocket Park, an interactive studio geared towards families with children that allows them to express their creativity. Harkening back to Tim Cresswell’s essay Place, Midtown Scholar has forged something more than a location within their walls– existing outside of a brick and mortar location, this bookstore has helped redefine the very place it exists within, Papenfuse even serving as the 38th mayor of Harrisburg to further affects his constituents’ quality of life, focusing many of his efforts on the neighborhood of Midtown.

All in all, Midtown Scholar exists in the populated center of a thriving neighborhood of many different lifestyles, and has ample options for food, shopping, worship, entertainment, and more, giving any visitor a wide range of options to choose from on their trip. If any location’s attempt to redefine the notion of bookstore has succeeded, it would without a doubt be Midtown Scholar, having helped shape its community for over two decades.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources

Images:

https://uncoveringpa.com/midtown-scholar-bookstore

https://www.visithersheyharrisburg.org/listings/midtown-scholar-bookstore-caf%C3%A9/707/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mhoffman1/9060576278

https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/dauphin-county/midtown-scholar-harrisburg-publishers-weekly-bookstore-of-the-year/521-d50a4ae9-b492-4523-9d70-2148bea5429d

Articles:

https://uncoveringpa.com/midtown-scholar-bookstore. Accessed 18 September 2023.

https://www.midtownscholar.com/history-and-mission. Accessed 18 September 2023.

Maps & Misc:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1i9TqQIov8VQh8b1_Cqw_ybgezV4iKTg&ll=40.26961690000003%2C-76.8911064&z=17. Accessed and created 18 September 2023.

https://vivionverbeke.com/. Accessed 19 September 2023.