Investigating the Inner-Mechanisms of the Library Express

Investigating the Inner-Mechanisms of the Library Express

Space and place are separated from one another by the qualifier in activity. According the definition laid out in Tim Cresswell’s “Defining Place” (p. 7), a place is a location that has been given meaning. In other words, it is not so much that it exists, but that it has a deeper human purpose attached to it.

That meaning of any given place is, of course, shaped largely by its contents: this is essentially the thesis for Lydia Pyne’s “Bookshelf”, as well as the whole ObjectLessons series at large.

If we consider the mall the Space – after all, it is a vast empty medium for operating shops – then a store like the Library Express would undoubtedly one of the Places that makes the Space worth noting.

The Library Express is unique among the other stores in the Marketplace@Steamtown for its wood-paneled windowed frontwalls; it quite literally makes the business stand out, characterizing it apart from other run-of-the-mill mall stores rather than fitting in with its surroundings (as Manusos would argue bookstores should). Helping this task would be the eye-catching artistic displays, which must have been made with love and care given their detail. As objects of book mutilation, one can only assume that they don’t directly help sell books like other store displays, but they do communicate to passersby that you’re in the right place if you’re looking for books or culture.

To put it bluntly, the Library Express is a small store. While its art pieces out front might be award-winning, especially for the late-capitalist minimalist decadence that characterizes the mall, you’re not going to catch it on a list of the most beautiful bookstores in the world anytime soon. Many of its shelves look like they were pulled out of a library basement and repurposed. Some books are literally stored in milk-crates under brown-paper-wrapped tables. Black-and-yellow-striped cables run from the heart of the store to the back, alerting you so you don’t step on them and ruin tonight’s movie night.

Checkout at the desk is equally rustic: there’s no fancy card-reader, not even a Square reader that so many small stores now use to utilize cards, but the old-fashioned method where they take your card and run the numbers behind the desk.

This rustic, one-foot-in-the-now and one-foot-fifteen-years-in-the-past environment is no weakness, though: the store is polished enough to be fittingly up-to-date from a Rust Belt perspective, with nothing new that might alienate its working-class audience. It’s not going to enthrall any architects, technocrats, or socialites, but for many workers in greater Appalachia, it’s going to be more welcoming and cozy than many other places they inhabit over the day. It’s generally much more in-touch with the modest working class history of Scranton than any of the other shiny, glassy boutique-esque stores in the mall. Ultimately, it’s a library – there really isn’t any pressure to spend any hard-earned cash, since it quite literally offers free wares, but there’s always the option if you’re looking to spoil yourself with a nice, flashy object of intellectualism.

It’s compact, too – you could reasonably head in, run to the back, and U-turn it out of there in about a minute, even with a leisurely pace. After about ten minutes in-store, you should have visited each little enclave, unless a particular section has particularly captivated you.

If we continue with our assertion that the Library Express is geared toward the working man, then it might not be too odd to call the Library Express model the “mullet” of bookstores: the business (bookselling) is in the front, the party (library and community planning) is in the back.

The Library half hones in on the Express nature inherited from the title. My co-passengers aboard the Express were quick to point out the relatively small selection of borrowed books were. However, a little inside information about libraries is their interconnectedness: the best way to get a good selection from the Library Express would be to order the books there from the website, and pick them up from there, meaning there are many more books within the Library’s catalog than are on the shelves. There are still enough books (and other traditional library media) that one could spend just as much time browsing these shelves as they might any other section of the store, though.

Quick library pitstop! It’s important to note the sheer number of large-print novels stored by the Library section of the Express. Pennsylvania does have an aging geriatric population (PASDC), and this seems like a good-faith attempt to cater to their interests as well as the interests of other visually-impaired peoples. One naturally has to ask how accessible it must be for them to get to the second floor of the mall, through the city and the parking garage, to which the Library Express would answer with their Bookmobile program. It must be intensely refreshing to see so many books for free: with bigger text comes more pages, and thus a higher cost, and such a niche market that many stores won’t think to cater to.

Of course, to get to the Library, you will have to make it through the bookstore, so on the way back you’re likely going to pass up something that at least stops you and catches your interest. While the Express might betray traditional capitalist sensibilities from the outside, on the inside, its front-facing two-thirds are a traditional trip into retail hell. While so many bookstore chains are looking to subvert expectations and/or invert this old model into “business outside, cozy inside” (O’Connor), the Library Express sticks to what works for selling product, as if it’s a business necessity more than an area of interest.

With the promise of free access to intellectualism imbued into the DNA of the store, though, this classic setup somehow doesn’t seem as predatory as it should. While I was checking out, I even chatted with the clerks about the paradoxical business model, remarking that I could get request any of the books at a library free of cost, anyways, and they agreed (of course, I was also patronizing them with a triple-figure sum of “could I really get this anywhere else?” “is this plausibly homemade/small-business?” bibliophilic merch, so they might have been a little inclined to smile and chat with me, but I have naïve hopeful faith in the workers of Scranton like Powederley might have hoped for).

As you enter and leave the store, having taken your quick little journey on the Library Express, whether it be to explore each little U-shaped nook-or-cubby of the store, to check out the frequently sold-out yet incredibly topical new releases, browse the bargain carts, or even to simply drop off library books at the hastily home-made return box, you are reminded of the Library’s programming: bus tickets, movie nights, community-builders, kids’ arts and crafts, and even free computer access at the back if you are truly in need.

Many bookstores claim to be a home away from home but when they’re really looking to gut you at every price point or point-of-sale, are they really that much more cozy-academic than, say, any predatory private university? On the other hand is the Library Express, wholeheartedly here to support its community, whether they be customers or simply card-holding “friends”, the freest ticket to ride one could ask for.

Citations (Theory and Data)

Cresswell, Tim. “Place: a short introduction”. Blackwell, n.d..

McLaughlin, Katherine. “The 9 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World.” Architectural Digest, 23 June 2023, https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-beautiful-bookstores-slideshow. Accessed 1 November 2023.

O’Connor, Maureen. “Barnes & Noble Sets Itself Free.” New York Times, 18 October 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/style/barnes-noble-redesign.html. Accessed 1 November 2023.

Pennsylvania State Data Center. “POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND CHANGE: 2010 TO 2017.” 10 July 2018, https://pasdc.hbg.psu.edu/Data/Research-Briefs/PA-Population-Estimates. Accessed 1 November 2023.

Pyne, Lydia. bookshelf. Bloomsbury, 2016.

Media Credits

Alexander, Amelia, Gavin Knouse, Brooke Nelson, and Janina Reynolds. Various photos of Library Express, 28 Oct 2023.

Knouse, Gavin. “Library Express.” Thinglink, 1 November 2023, https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1776434116347036134. Accessed 1 November 2023.

L, Derek. “Library Express”. Foursquare, 14 June 2022, https://foursquare.com/v/library-express/4e98550ff9f413b04cd4d0f8?openPhotoId=62a8fa26bdc8db3bd5a99005. Accessed 1 November 2023.

Library Express Interior Design

Strolling Through Library Express

Now picture this… It is a Saturday morning, and you decide you want to take a stroll through the Marketplace at Steamtown. You start by parking your car in the parking garage then you take the escalator up to the first floor of the mall. As you are strolling through the first floor you see different types of stores. You see a dentist’s office, an aquarium, Geisinger, a Starbucks, etc. Since there is a Starbucks you may grab a cup of coffee before you decide to continue your stroll through the mall.

After getting your Starbucks coffee you make your way up to the second floor of the mall and almost immediately your eye catches the wooden panels that border a store. Out of curiosity, you make your way toward it and discover that it is a bookstore called Library Express.

Not only is the Library Express a bookstore, but it is also a public library that is connected with the Lackawanna Country Library System. This is just one way that makes the bookstore stand out compared to other bookstores.

A look at the Library Express exterior from the left side of the bookstore. Photo by Janina Reynolds.

Before even entering the bookstore, you will find three carts full of books that they keep outside of the store to attract customers to their store. Keeping book carts outside of a bookstore allows customers to browse through the books on the outside of the store before they decide to continue their way into the store.

The book carts at the very entrance of the doorway allow customers to start book browsing before they are even fully in the store. Photo by Amelia Alexander.

Along with the carts full of books, they also have signs that help advertise their store more. The sign that is at the far left of the front of the bookstore shows what sales and programs they have going on during the month. As you make your way to the entrance there is another sign that has flyers on it that promote the different events the bookstore holds during that month. As you pass the sign there is a cart full of books and another one right after it.

Book decoration hanging from the lights by the Library Express entrance. Photo by Janina Reynolds.

Lighting

In Lyndsie Manusos’s article, “The Science and Recent History of Bookstore Design,” she talks about how “lighting and space have always been important” which remains to be true it is the first thing a customer notices when they enter Library Express or any bookstore. Manusos also mentioned how “Bright lighting is important… but natural light was and still is a priority” which is not the case for Library Express. Since the bookstore is inside of a mall, it has no natural lighting. Instead, they have artificial lighting that helps brighten the store up so their customers can read better while they are browsing. At the entrance of the store, you can see the light source right away. Along with it are books used as decorations that are hanging from the ceiling right by the lights.

Entering Library Express

Then when you finally make it past the doorway you will see a book display that holds books that fall under the “NY Times Bestsellers” category. On this book display, you can find Walter Isaacson’s book on Elon Musk. A regular customer would have to purchase the book for its full price, but if a customer happened to have a Lackawanna County Library System Library Card (usually labeled as an LCLS Library Card) then they get a 25% discount if they buy the book. Another book you can find is Daniel Stashower’s American Demon which is 25% off for anyone who has an LCLS Library Card.

Library Express Floor Plan

The floor plan was created by Amelia Alexander and then modified by Janina Reynolds via Thinglink. A little key for the color of the icons: the icons in blue are part of the bookstore. They are typically books, but two of them are also just window displays. The green icons are other items that customers can purchase that are not books. Then the black icons have to do with the library part of Library Express.

The Right Side of Library Express

The front right side of the Library Express bookstore has a table full of calendars and planners then has bookcases that each hold different genres. Photo by Janina Reynolds.

From the “NY Times Bestseller” display you may head towards the right side of the store. The first thing you will see is a table full of calendars and planners that were 10% off. Behind the table is a U-shaped space for customers to walk behind and look at the bookshelves that surround the table. Going from the right side of the table you see a section full of Cookbooks so if you want to learn a new style of cooking and want to get a book on it then this is exactly where you need to look. As you continue walking the U-shape space you will see a section for Wellness, References, Religion, and two bookcases full of books that are part of the Social Science/History genres. Then at the very end of the pathway, you will find a bookcase full of Journals. As you continue walking straight you will find a small table that is a mix of Nonfiction and Fiction New Releases.

A section of the bookstore is dedicated full of Dunder Mifflin Merchandise. Photo by Janina Reynolds

Also on the right side of the store as you head further in you will see a whole section dedicated to the television series, The Office. In this section, they have Dunder Mifflin merch and they even have some Scranton merch as well.

In Scranton, The Office is something that gets recognized by many people because the show was set in Scranton. A section of their bookstore dedicated to it ties the store into its community. It also brings in people who may be visiting and have watched the show.

Placing it right next to the check-out desk also allows customers to get their books first and then potentially stop by and grab Dunder Mifflin merch as well.

The Left Side of Library Express

Mainly a Classics Genre Section, but the front of the table is full of art. Photo by Brooke Nelson.

Heading towards the left side you will see a bookcase with two tables behind it. The items on the table closest to the “NY Times Bestseller” display are Art items that are facing toward the walkway so that customers can look at them. On the other table, it is full of books that are part of the Classics Genre. Behind that table are bookcases that are against the wall full of books that are also part of the Classics Genre.

A bookcase full of Classics that can only be accessed by a worker. Photo by Janina Reynolds

The bookcase that the tables are behind also holds Classic novels. However, to look at the books in this case a customer must go to the check-out desk and ask for assistance so that they can look at one of the books. A locked bookcase where you can see what books are in it, but can only access them if you ask for assistance gives customers a different feeling than bookcases where they can just pick up a book and look through it at their own free will. In Lydia Pyne’s novel, bookshelf, she talks about a practice known as chaining. She describes chaining as “a practice that reinforced a relationship of power and access between those who curated the books and those who read them” (Pyne 11). Seeing a locked bookcase may make customers feel this way. They may look at the display and want a book that is in it but still want to have the bare minimum interaction with a worker and decide to look at other books instead. The novel also mentioned that “libraries acted as gatekeepers… determining how access to its books would be granted” (Pyne 15). This can be applied well in this case since Library Express is not only a bookstore but also a public library.

Circle deal table where everything on it is Buy One Get One 50% Off. Photo by Janina Reynolds.

Making your way towards the back through the left side of the store. You will find there are several bookcases full of books in the Fiction genre then get into the Young Adult genre. In this area, there is a bookcase that holds novels that fall under the “Books to Film” category and novels that are Biographies.

In this specific area, Library Express also has a circle table at the center of it making it easy to move around it. Another plus to the circle table is that everything that was on the table was “Buy One Get One 50% Off.” Including a table that is full of books that are part of a deal is a good move because book lovers also love a good book deal.

Activities table in the library part of the bookstore. Photo by Janina Reynolds

The Library Part of Library Express

Towards the back of the bookstore is where the library part of more noticeable. They have a sign hanging from the ceiling at the right side of the back of the store that says: “Lackawanna County Library System.” At the back right of the store, they have three bookshelves full of books. The way they categorize the books on these shelves is considered “Large Print.” All of these books you can borrow if you have an LCLS Library Card. In the middle of this area, there is an activities table where library members and customers can rate the last book they read and kids are even able to do some coloring as well.

Bookshelves that are categorized by “Large Print” books.
Photo by Janina Reynolds.

The Center of Library Express

Rack of Tote Bags for customers to purchase. Photo by Janina Reynolds

At the center of Library Express is where they keep their non-book items. Close to the check-out desk, they have tables that are full of socks and another table that is full of cards and mugs. Between the table of socks and the table with the Fiction New Releases, they have racks full of tote bags.

Having non-book items at the center of the store near the check-out desk is a smart design because even though someone may have found all the books that they wanted they will still look at the items on the center table and the chances are they may purchase something. Especially if someone is buying a bunch of books they may buy a tote bag so that they can carry their new books in it.

Text Citations

Manusos, Lyndsie. “The Science and Recent History of Bookstore Design.” BOOK RIOT, 23 Feb. 2022, bookriot.com/the-science-and-recent-history-of-bookstore-design/.  

Pyne, Lydia. Bookshelf. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. 

Photo Citations

Alexander, Amelia: Book carts at the entrance

Nelson, Brooke: Classic Genre Section

Reynolds, Janina: Exterior of Library Express, Book Hanging Decorations, Front Right Side of Library Express, the Dunder Mifflin Merch, Locked Bookcase, BOGO Circle Table, Activities Table

Floor Plan Citation

Created by Amelia Alexander and modified by Janina Reynolds using Thinglink

Midtown Scholar’s Menagerie: Everything, Everywhere

Midtown Scholar’s Menagerie: Everything, Everywhere

Although based in the renovated remnants of a historic movie theater, and originally beginning as an online storefront, the Midtown Scholar as it presently stands can best be described as a haven for bookworms and casual readers alike, feeling like a lodge of sorts, where its shelves are stocked with a vastly diverse array of literature, so much so that the average customer may not know where to begin.

Overview of the Midtown Scholar from the Gallery, looking down on the main stage. Photo taken from Flickr.

As described by the owners, Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence in an interview on their YouTube channel, every aspect of the Midtown Scholar’s structure from the ground up was deliberate– each panel, light, even the newly furnished stage in the center of the establishment were all placed there with the larger design in mind. The space exists to connect the consumer with one another, and with Midtown Scholar’s collection of texts, which sets itself apart from other independent bookstores through its scale and scope. For all intents and purposes, the Scholar could serve as a library, its collection of 200,000 texts rivaling most comparable institutions; what differs from the rest, however, is the presentation.

An excerpt from the reading “On Collecting Art and Culture” by James Clifford highlights a similar sentiment, as he describes ethnography as a form of collecting, relating it to the contemporary Western notion of “collection,” being that whatever items a collection consists of, they will fade without proper care, Clifford describing it as a “rescue of phenomena from inevitable historical decay or loss” (231). In this sense, the Midtown Scholar has an incredibly unique definition of collection, having it range dramatically in genre. Their collection is free-flowing and rapidly changes, and Papenfuse describes their desire to stock five unique titles over five copies of one in the same aforementioned interview, highlighting their sentiment towards collection. A diagram showing the layout and a full breakdown of all the genres and categories present in the store can be found below.

A full floorplan of the Midtown Scholar, highlighting their extensive collection of texts. Highlights all major areas of the store. Taken from the Midtown Scholar Facebook Page.

Aside from the over 200,000 titles housed in the Midtown Scholar, they have two cafes, an art gallery, and a stage at the center of the establishment that serves as a platform for authors, speakers, and artists to perform for the community; that, at its core, is what the Midtown Scholar seeks to engage with through every facet of its construction: the community– to foster a warm, thoughtful, ever-changing space that has something for everyone. It’s difficult to nail down precisely what “type” of bookstore the Scholar is, seeing as its genres range from Pennsylvanian historical accounts, to jewelry and textiles, even having a full catalog of texts on social sciences, the Scholar holds true to its namesake, baring a collection that would inspire envy in any academic.

I feel as though the two cafes located within serve as a microcosm for the overall feel of the bookstore. This too is difficult to articulate as “feel” isn’t all that descriptive of a term, but it’s essential to understand that this idea seeps from the very cracks of the foundation, as if the bookstore itself has a discernible personality. 

To elaborate, the Midtown Scholar is an inherently social space, but the average consumer may not immediately jump at this opportunity, so they head to the fringes where both cafes are located. Upon my visit to the store, most people were centralized around these places– reading, discussing, observing– before that same cafe broke them out of their shells, prompting a sort of adventure through the self-described “labyrinthian” layout by Catherine Lawrence. 

This term aptly describes the spiraling layout of the Midtown Scholar, composed of four floors with dramatically different subjects on each, allowing the appeal of the texts themselves to draw readers in and guide them on their path through the store. When they purchased the property, owners Papenfuse and Lawrence connected the basements of the two, adding a subterranean level to the store entirely of their own creation. It’s often said about mesmerizing places such as this, but I genuinely felt as though I could get lost within the establishment. When I visited the bookstore, one of the first things I noticed was how the texts were arranged in a near-overwhelming manner; shelves that tower over the consumer are what compose a majority of the store. 

View of the main stage in the Midtown Scholar during Olafur Arnalds’ performance in 2011. Taken from the Artist’s website.

Specifically, those shelves and the books contained on them reminded me of an excerpt from Lydia Pyne’s Bookshelf, where she describes the relation between a collection and how its displayed on the shelf, saying “In other words, how books are cataloged, shelved, and displayed shows a certain worldview and a particular system of thinking—aesthetic, pragmatic, categorical, or out-and-out haphazard, even” (33). The way Midtown Scholar views its collection is as an amalgamation of knowledge, and this is reflected in the broadness of what’s contained on the shelves. As stated earlier, it’s difficult to nail down what type of bookstore the Scholar is as it is such a wide-spanning store, but the message spoken through the shelves are clear: the sky’s the limit.

Despite how initially chaotic things may seem within the Scholar, everything is painstakingly organized and cataloged, which is worthy of admiration when one knows the extent of their collection. I’d like to place special emphasis on the upper level of the store, where the gallery, humanities, arts, and ephemera sections are located, among much more. 

While this is by no means the most “important” area of the store, any of which can be argued to be, I feel this is the best reflection of the beliefs of the owner on the design of their store. The shelves on this floor are as broad as the rest in the establishment, but they incorporate their dedication to the arts and humanities, having a balcony to overview shows, a gallery with work from local artists, and the upper level is dedicated to texts discussing arts and cultural interests. 

The lighting and woodwork throughout the entire store is worthy of note, but it feels more intimate on the upper level due to the small space, soft lights shining on specific paintings and books; the grain of the wood making the upper level seem like a cabin, quaint and cozy, where one can take a seat on the chairs and open a text they’re interested in while observing the art.

Overall, the layout of Midtown Scholar encourages the consumer to choose their own experience in the depth of what they offer, carpe diem if you will. The warm and welcoming design, community-driven layout, and intentionality of each detail lends this bookstore an indescribable uniqueness which attracts those from all walks of life to engage with literature in this manner. Regardless of your age, identity, or level of education, Midtown Scholar goes above and beyond in fostering a welcoming environment, despite how overwhelming it may feel when first entering.

Texts Cited

Clifford, James. “On Collecting Art and Culture.” The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2002, pp. 212–249

Pyne, Lydia. Bookshelf. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.

Videos Used

The Midtown Scholar. 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&t=3432s. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Library Express: Roots in the Community

Library Express: Roots in the Community

Since its beginning, Library Express Bookstore has embodied a “community first” business model for the downtown and greater Scranton areas. As part of the Lackawanna County Library System, its mission statement is “to enhance the lives of all individuals by offering free access to materials and programs designed to satisfy the informational and recreational needs of [the] community.” Thus, its function is twofold. It serves as a branch of the Scranton Public Library and as an indie bookstore, dedicated to meeting the literary, recreational, and scholarly needs of its customers.

According to Alyssa Loney, creator of Scranton Public Library’s podcast, Tales from the Albright, and one of the original employees at Library Express, the bookstore was originally called Library Light, which opened in September of 2011 in The Mall at Steamtown near the area Crunch Fitness occupies today. Just three months later, Library Light moved across the atrium to its current, permanent space, and was rechristened Library Express on January 11, 2012 for its official introduction as a branch of the Lackawanna County Library System. 

Though the store was always intended to be a hybrid space suited for both borrowing and purchasing books, the ties to the library were much more universal at the bookstore’s beginning. Library Express was originally devised as a space to provide library resources and materials for the people of downtown Scranton, and the bookstore half of the concept centered solely on providing a venue for the Friends of the Scranton Public Library to host their annual used book sale, which is widely popular and well attended by citizens in Scranton and the surrounding area. Library Express quickly expanded to stocking its own used titles, however, acquired by donations of gently used books made directly to the bookstore, and began incorporating a steadily growing collection of new books for sale.

Though it’s relatively common to find chain bookstores like BAM and Barnes and Noble in traditional shopping malls, an independent bookstore-library hybrid that emphasizes community and use of free lending materials is an incongruity that doesn’t seem to match the Mall at Steamtown’s capitalist, buyer-centric shopping culture. But that was exactly the point—according to Loney, at its conception, Library Express was intended to educate the public about the library system in a “new, unexpected environment.” Another of its primary goals was to encourage non-traditional library users to start using the library by promoting library card signups and community engagement. The Mall at Steamtown seemed the perfect place for such a bookstore due to its easy access to the community, including spheres of the community that had less interaction with the library system prior to the opening of Library Express.

Ironically, the Mall at Steamtown soon rose to meet Library Express in its emphasis on community. After an intense but losing battle fought by the mall’s original owner and developer, Albert Boscov, the mall was foreclosed on March 7, 2014. The decline in popularity of traditional mall culture and the closing of several key department stores was the final breaking point for the mall, and while Library Express continued its successful mission of community engagement as both a library and a bookstore in the mall after its foreclosure, the mall continued to decline, like many similar shopping centers across the county. About a year later, on July 28, 2015, the mall was sold to John Basalyga, who announced that although he had no intentions of redeveloping the mall, he hoped to move the property towards a more profitable future. This plan was realized on June 1, 2016, when the mall was renamed the Marketplace at Steamtown and rebranded as a community center in downtown Scranton. Soon after, the Luzerne County Community College opened a location on the first floor of the Marketplace, and the entire food court was converted into the Scranton Public Market, where local vendors sell their goods up to seven days a week. While the Mall at Steamtown was initially considered an ideal location for Lackawanna County’s hybrid bookstore due to its ease of access to the bookstore’s target audience, the Marketplace’s new emphasis on creating and fostering a community space aligned perfectly with Library Express’s goals, further contributing to the bookstore’s success. “We have a lot of people that stop by weekly,” says Diane Demko, the manager of Library Express, in her interview with Alyssa Loney. 

Over the years, Library Express has expanded its inventory to match the needs of its customers, first by moving away from only selling the books of the Friends of the Scranton Public Library towards selling their own collection of new and used books. Due to the bookstore’s position in the Marketplace at Steamtown, Library Express serves three kinds of customers: local community members, library patrons, and tourists who are looking for some fun while visiting the area or taking pictures with the “Welcome to Scranton” sign on the first floor of the mall, known for the sign’s iconic appearance in the hit TV series The Office. In 2019, Library Express expanded its inventory yet again, this time including a new merchandise section complete with bookish items, Dunder Mifflin/The Office souvenirs, greeting cards, and postcards of the Scranton area featuring the work of local artist Austin Burke.

Julia Grocki Book Signing

As part of its commitment to community outreach and role as a branch of the Lackawanna County Library System, Library Express hosts a plethora of events designed for all of the age brackets it caters to. From its opening in 2012 until the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Library Express participated in First Fridays, highlighting a different local artist, writer or speaker every month to boost community engagement and support local creatives. In July 2014, the bookstore began hosting Open Mic Nights for adults and teens (depending on the month), which they still do at present. In 2018, they introduced their Seasoned Citizen Movie Matinees, a monthly event that features throwback movies designed for the enjoyment and enrichment of community members ages 60 and up. They host numerous events for children, including Lego club, the Children’s Cozy Corner, and themed craft days for families. In 2021, they introduced the Young Writers Group, a workshop-based club dedicated to teaching teens the fundamentals of creative writing, and in March 2023, they launched their Sundays for Self-Care initiative, aimed at improving the well-being of library patrons and community members. 

When the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the library system on March 31, 2020, Library Express took it in stride, converting to online programming with ease. After reopening to in-person visits on June 24, 2020, the hybrid bookstore remained the only branch of the Scranton Public Library that stayed open throughout the continued Covid-19 closures, ensuring their customers’ safety by following social distancing guidelines, mask mandates, and quarantine procedures for returned materials. They also joined Bookshop.org in December 2020, so customers could deliver books straight to their home if they preferred while still supporting the Lackawanna County Library System. This option remains today, though the pandemic is over and Library Express’s in-person programming is back at full tilt.

Uniquely positioned in the Marketplace at Steamtown—a shopping mall turned community center—Library Express has served as a center of community in downtown Scranton, providing the resources community members need to excel in their intellectual/professional lives as well as their social/personal lives. In Reluctant Capitalists, Laura J. Miller asserts that chain bookstores “communicated their rejection of cultural elitism through their outlets’… placement in shopping centers and malls” and “indicated that they were not interested in ‘elevating’ or otherwise changing customer tastes through their selections,” while independent bookstores did just the opposite (60). Library Express occupies both ends of this contradictory position as it, though independent, also resides in a mall like the chains, an environment not typically conducive to the idea of a bookseller as a cultural guide who refines the tastes of their patrons, while on the other hand, Library Express also exists as a library which functions to stretch the intellectual capacities of its patrons, connecting them to the curated materials that will expand their understanding of the topic they are looking into. Miller also emphasizes how important it is for independent bookstores to get to know their community so they can better serve them (83), which is something Library Express has been doing since its conception, catering its programs, resources, collection, and inventory to the needs of its customers. Library Express was founded on the idea of reaching out to the community, and it continues this tradition to this day.

Citations

Texts

Amadeo, Salvatore. “Steamtown Mall in Scranton, PA: ExLog 63.” Salvatore Amadeo, 23 Feb. 2023, www.salvatoreamadeo.com/post/steamtown-mall-in-scranton-pa-exlog-63.

“Library Express Bookstore and Library: Support a Cause.” DiscoverNEPA, www.discovernepa.com/cause/library-express-bookstore-and-library/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

“Library Express Bookstore Is Now on Bookshop.” Lackawanna County Library System, 14 Dec. 2020, lclshome.org/2020/12/library-express-bookstore-is-now-on-bookshop/.

“Library Express Bookstore to Reopen Monday, June 29.” Lackawanna County Library System, 24 June 2020, lclshome.org/2020/06/library-express-bookstore-to-reopen-monday-june-29/.

“Library Express Bookstore Will Remain Open with Limited Occupancy.” Lackawanna County Library System, 11 Dec. 2020, lclshome.org/2020/12/library-express-bookstore-will-remain-open-with-limited-occupancy/.

“Library Express Bookstore.” Lackawanna County Library System, lclshome.org/b/library-express/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Miller, Laura J. “Providing for the Sovereign Consumer: Selecting and Recommending Books.” Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2007, pp. 60–83.

“Scranton Public Library Locations Closed until Further Notice.” Lackawanna County Library System, 31 Mar. 2020, lclshome.org/2020/03/covid-19-statement-from-the-scranton-public-library/.

“Young Writers Group.” Lackawanna County Library System, 29 Dec. 2020, lclshome.org/2020/12/young-writers-group/.

Audio

“Tales from the Albright.” Created by Alyssa Loney, episode 4: Lackawanna County Children’s Library and Library Express Bookstore, 29 July 2021.

“Tales from the Albright.” Created by Alyssa Loney, episode 56: Library Express Bookstore, 23 Feb. 2023.

Images

juliabaker_rd. Julia Grocki Book Signing. 1 Dec. 2017. Scranton, PA.

Scranton Public Library. Check Out Our New Merchandise Section. 18 Mar. 2019. Scranton, PA.

Scranton Public Library. Library Card Sign-Up Month. 1 Sept. 2019. Scranton, PA.

Scranton Public Library. Library Express Bookstore Now Sells Greeting Cards! 28 Mar. 2019. Scranton, PA.

Scranton Public Library. New Pins!!! 7 Feb. 2019. Scranton, PA.

susan.t.smi. Visiting Independent Bookstores. 18 Oct. 2022. Scranton, PA.

theyellowbrickreader. Library Express Storefront. 11 Aug. 2021. Scranton, PA.

Timeline

Timeline created by Amelia Alexander using TimeGraphics: https://time.graphics/

Past: People and Place

History of Library Express and its Community

When you are taking a stroll in the Marketplace at Steamtown, you will come across a store that has wooden panels bordering it with big windows that have a display that tends to match the season. Along the wooden panel that is across the entrance, it reads: “Library Express.”

Library Express is no ordinary bookstore, it is also one of the libraries that is part of the Lackawanna County Library System. While you are at Library Express you are able to purchase a book like you would at a regular bookstore, but you are also able to borrow books as well just like you would do at a library. When you think of a bookstore, you rarely think of there being bookstores that are also a branch of a public library. That is what makes the Library Express Bookstore so unique.

A Brief History of the Lackawanna County Library Systems

The Lackawanna County Library System was founded in 1960 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It has eleven member libraries that make up its system. These libraries are Lackawanna County Children’s Library, Albright Memorial Library, Valley Community Library, Nancy Kay Holmes Branch Library, Dalton Community Library, Abington Community Library, Taylor Community Library, Carbondale Public Library, Lackawanna County Bookmobile, North Pocono Public Library, and Library Express.

History of the Library Express Bookstore

Library Express was established in 2012 as a branch of the public library system in Scranton. More specifically, the bookstore’s Twitter page had announced on its first post on January 11, 2012, that Library Express was the newest branch of the Lackawanna County Library system and that it was also a bookstore.

Tweet made by Library Express Bookstore to announce the start of their bookstore

Throughout the last decade, Library Express has only progressed. Almost right away, Library Express had started holding different events. Authors, including local ones, would come into the bookstore and do readings and signings.

Their first local author to come in was Nancy McDonald who did a reading and signing of her book, If You Can Play Scranton, on January 28, 2012. Not only was McDonald a local to Scranton, but her book also had to do with Scranton’s history from 1871 to 2010. McDonald was not the only author who read a book of theirs that talked about Scranton’s history. Other books that were featured during author events were history about the local area or even memoirs.

Since 2017, Library Express has been doing monthly Open Mic Nights that have only gotten bigger since its very first event. Eventually, they started doing movie nights and hosting multiple different types of clubs, including book clubs. It is a place where people are meant to feel comfortable and feel like they are part of the community.

Some American bookstores are believed to be only about making money and not about the community. In Jack Perry’s Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist, he says, “No one in these places seems to love books, or even to like them, except as money makers” (Perry 109). Library Express is not this way though. They have a love for books and a love for their community. They want to help bring the community together by having so many events. Since Library Express is part of a public library it donates money to the library system. Also libraries are meant to help people learn more by loaning out books rather than just selling them.

Library Express decided to extend its target customers of people who shopped at the physical bookstore to online customers as well. Instead of just having people in the community come to the bookstore for the books that they want or need, they were finally able to purchase them online. On December 8, 2020, Library Express made it accessible for their customers to buy books through bookshop.org, which is a website that allows readers to connect with independent booksellers all over the world. This website helps small independent bookstores by financially supporting them. Bookshop.org is a good fit for Library Express considering they advertise themselves as wanting to help their community.

The reasoning for their progression towards being part of an online store as well as just a regular store people can go into is because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has changed the lives of so many people in Scranton and everyone else in the world as well. Like other public libraries in Pennsylvania, on March 16, 2020, Library Express had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily.

Tweet made by Library Express about temporarily closing of bookstore

Even though in the tweet, they had said that public libraries in Pennsylvania would be closed from March 14, 2020, until March 29, 2020, it did not remain true. Especially for Library Express, they were unable to reopen for several months. While they were closed they also were not taking any donations so they could not help the community or the public library systems during this time.

Library Express’s first online event. Photo provided by Library Express Twitter page.

It was on July 27, 2020, when Library Express had announced that they were officially opened once again. However, even with it being reopened they still were not accepting donations and they could not do any in-person events due to Covid. It was not until September 4, 2020, that they held their first event since they had reopened, but they did it online.

Even with things starting to go back to a new type of normal, COVID-19 still had an effect on the bookstore. Months after it had reopened they had to reclose it for a couple of days since a member of their staff had come in close contact with someone who had COVID. During the two days that they were closed, they did deep cleaning to make sure that when they re-open once again their customers as well as Library Express employees would be less likely to get sick with COVID.

Being part of a community has more than just where you live. It is also about the group of people who surround you and how you interact. When you are part of a community you can be expected to participate and help out. That is what is nice about independent bookstores. They care about their customers enough to make an effort to get to know them and try to help them with what they need. In Tim Cresswell’s book, Place, he defines what a place is in the very first chapter. Cresswell mentioned how “places must have some relationship to humans and the human capacity to produce and consume meaning” (Cresswell 7). Library Express is this type of place. They are a bookstore where customers are able to come in and buy the book of their choice, but they are also a library that will loan you a book that you have been looking for or need. Libraries are a place that helps the people in the community learn more about their community or anything else they possibly might want to learn. Library Express has the best of both worlds by being a library and a bookstore.

Sources:

History/Information

Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Blackwell, 2011.

“Library Express Bookstore.” X, X, twitter.com/libraryexpress. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.
Perry, Jack. “Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist.” Bibliophilia, 2001, pp. 107–111.

Image cited

“Library Express Bookstore.” X, X, twitter.com/libraryexpress. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Timeline

Free Online Timeline Maker, time.graphics/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Library Express – Searching for stability as the Electric City flickers

Library Express – Searching for stability as the Electric City flickers

“Bookstores come and bookstores go, but perhaps the library is forever.”

It’s an eye-catching quote, isn’t it? For that reason, I don’t feel too bad for making it up. It’s not exactly what Carrión said when discussing the two, but it might as well have been. In chapter 2 of “Bookshops: A Reader’s History”, Carrión characterizes the libraries as endpoint collections for literature, propped up and sanctioned by their connections to authority (Carrión, p. 41). Bookstores, on the other hand, are much more mercurial and nebulous: they exist to sell their wares for a short time, and then disappear into the annals of history, forgotten as institutions, while historians wax over the lost and found libraries of old in their modern libraries. One might even infer some sort of libertarian ideology here – the idea that the library and all its authority stands in opposition to the poor little bookstore, overshadowing it and sucking wares from it until the latter dries up.  If that’s what is said about the two individually, one must then naturally wonder what could be said about Scranton’s Library Express as the child and thus inheritor of the two conflicting approaches to text acquisition.

Though it might be one of the lone bookstores in Scranton, the Library Express does not stand alone. The Library Express is a part of the larger Lackawanna County Library System, and thus shares its history in that. The Library’s proprietor has its public-facing offices about four blocks away, down at the Scranton Children’s Library and its private offices down at the Silkman House. Both are housed in historical buildings, purchased and subsequently refurbished by the Scranton Public Library board: the latter was home to the Christian Science Church and the other one of the oldest buildings in Scranton.

Silkman House, circa 1936, image taken by the National Park Service. At this time, the building was still inhabited by a member of the Silkman family, and would not open as a library for two more years.

However, while the history of these two buildings and how they came to be acquired as government property from private enterprises is interesting, their previous proprietors are certainly not as indicative of Scranton’s history as the Albright Library’s is.

Postcard, circa 1930 and 1945

The Albright Library is the keystone library of the Electric City and its historical first, located just next to the Children’s Library, meaning only four blocks down from the Steamtown Mall. The Albright building, as one could gather from the name, was originally the home of the Albrights, a multigenerational family of coal, iron/steel, railroad and bank magnates throughout the late 1800’s. While the age might have been known as the “Gilded Age”, the splendor was quickly chipped away to reveal the rusty, sooty history underneath the surface: soon after the Albright family donated the library, they moved their industry out of the city, leaving many of the workers unemployed. Though in the eyes of the capitalists it might have just been a move of economic passion (westward was, quite literally, gold, and oil, too!), this betrayal must have been viewed as an act of retribution by the workers: in the years just prior to the Albright’s leaving, the Scranton coal workers went on the biggest coal strike that Luzerne and Lackawanna counties had ever seen. Terence V. Powderley, former mayor of the Electric City, was soon ejected from the largest union in America, the equally famous and infamous Knights of Labor. Without any leadership from unionist or industrialist, their city was left to decompose, the only memory of capitalist goodwill being the library, and nothing else left to fill the hole that the mining industry left but resentment.

It was in these years of the growing Rust Belt, as the businesses that abandoned Scranton soon came to abandon American workers entirely, that the library gradually expanded itself throughout the city, buying old landmarks that once belonged to the richest families of Scranton, and refurbishing them into wings of its organization.

As I discussed in my last post, that economic rut and rot that characterizes the Rust Belt has still not alleviated in Scranton, despite the good intentions of many such businessmen to add a new color of paint. The mall itself in which the Marketplace @ Steamtown is held started out that way – an economic venture to hopefully garner community spirit and a new jolt of life for the Electric City’s circuit – as did the Museum out back.

Has it been working? Well, it doesn’t seem like it, though there’s no real data to quantify if it has or hasn’t been.

I tried to find data on the stores that opened and closed in Scranton, but unfortunately such information is not gathered and treated like the government census and instead falls into the opportune laps of market research firms. Any information that would have been compiled is then locked behind pretty steep paywalls and services that would take a whole new academic program for me to become acquainted with. In some ways, it’s almost a mini library versus bookstore dichotomy.

What I was able to find, in plentiful amount, was complaints about the dying city and its similarly struggling economy. Most humorous to me were pictures from just one year ago, from the subreddit “Dead Malls”, dedicated to the cataloguing of the dead mall late-stage-capitalist phenomenon.

The Marketplace At Steamtown, Scranton, PA.
byu/VisualDimension292 indeadmalls

More interesting, though, was an old forum on “city-data.com” in 2008, where users discussed recent business closures in the city. However, like many classic forums do, it eventually derailed into political arguments about the intentions of mayors, with business owners even chiming into remind readers that the rumors of their stores’ deaths were greatly exaggerated: much like Rust Belt industries, the petit bourgeoisie had simply moved shop elsewhere.

Most interesting of all to me was the information that a Barnes & Nobles had, in fact, once called the Marketplace @ Steamtown home, much like Library Express does now. Interestingly, this means that some of these forum user’s prayers were answered in a roundabout way. While Anthology books mysteriously closed without a trace back in 2011, a bookstore did return to the mall a year later: the Library Express.

However, as the forum users explain, niche markets are an issue for businesses in Scranton. Books are apparently niche enough to drive two dedicated bookstores away from the city’s disinterested customers less than five years before the Library Express opened.

So, why did the Library Express open up in a dying Rust Belt city where the last bookstore so quickly closed up shop before it and the people are so virulently opposed to small businesses out of economic necessity? Clearly, the Library did not do so out of profit: if that was the case, a dead mall with minimal foot traffic is a terrible move, especially when the Library can and already has bought and refurbishing real-estate instead of renting it before. It was not done for accessibility, or for passion, or for learning, as all of these are redundant when the Lackawanna County Library System already has so many nodes spread out throughout the city.

It must be out of ideology, then, akin to Una Mulzac’s Liberation Bookstore and other bookstores like it (Davis 38). Unlike those bookstores, though, the Library Express is not just a place of learning or programming. While it certainly is and does function as that, it is redundant with the library in this way. Its place in promoting the small-business open-night “First Friday” trend across the state is quite telling. Library Express exists to fulfill an economical niche within the community’s ecosystem: it is the quintessential library bookstore that must exist to ensure a well-read populace, as Archibald MacLeish might say.

It might not be in Scranton’s interest to remain capitalist, nor might it be in the library’s best interest to run a bookstore in the mall. Small businesses dry up as the citizens routinely prefer the convenience and assortments of larger stores. However, when large corporations have such a history of mistreating and abandoning you as they do in Scranton, perhaps it is only right that your city government steps in to shoulder the economic burden, just as the Library Express is doing now in Scranton. While the laborers who worked and striked for the good of the people of Scranton years ago have passed, their electric spirit will live on.

Works Cited

Class Content

Carrión, Jorge. Bookshops: A Reader’s History, translated by Peter Bush. Biblioasis, n.d..

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

Macleish, Archibald. “A Free Man’s Books”. Mount Vernon, The Peter Pauper Press, n.d..

Media

“Eyewitness to History: Steamtown Mall Opens.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Oct. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaKz7Eoche8. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Jones, Stanley. Silkman House, Scranton. 26 April 1936, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, PA,35-SCRAN,1-2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silkman_House,_Scranton.jpg. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Mebane, R. Ramsey. Scranton Public Library, Albright Memorial Building, Scranton, Pa.. Boston Public Library Tichnors collection, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scranton_Public_Library,Albright_Memorial_Building,_Scranton,_Pa(63515).jpg. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

The Times Tribune. “Invitations to the Opening.” Newspapers by Ancestry, https://www.newspapers.com/article/75815117/the-times-tribune/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

VisualDimension292. “The Marketplace At Steamtown, Scranton, PA.” Reddit, 26 July 2022, https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/w8x3d3/the_marketplace_at_steamtown_scranton_pa/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

weluvpa, NYRangers 2008, SteelCityRising, et al. “3 Business’s closed in Downtown Scranton and soon to be 4 (Wilkes-Barre: to rent, condo).” City-Data.com, 5 January 2008, https://www.city-data.com/forum/northeastern-pennsylvania/226476-3-businesss-closed-downtown-scranton-soon.html. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Research

Domitrovic, Brian. “The Origin of the Rust Belt – Part 1.” Forbes, 9 Oct 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/briandomitrovic/2022/10/09/the-origin-of-the-rust-belt–part-1/?sh=5552712d104f. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

ExplorePAhistory.com. “Terence V. Powderley Historical Marker.” https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-3BE. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Falchek, David. “Mall at Steamtown looks to recreate image.” The Times-Tribune, 24 June 2020, https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/mall-at-steamtown-looks-to-recreate-image/article_42af6213-fc05-5506-ad23-d9b293710416.html. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Lackawanna County Library System. https://lclshome.org/. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Lackawanna Historical Society. “The Silkman Houses and the Silkmans”. The Lackawanna Historical Society Bulletin, 5(5), May-June 1971.

LaChiusa, Chuck. “Lackawanna Steel Company and Buffalo and Susquehanna Iron Company”. History of Buffalo, https://buffaloah.com/h/lacksteel/index.html. Accessed 8 2023.

Lange, Stacy. “Labor Day’s rich history in Scranton.” WNEP16, 6 September 2021, https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/labor-days-rich-history-in-scranton-courthouse-square/523-19c35c1b-5368-4831-92ed-29f7a26ad0e4. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Lockwood, Jim. “Scranton Public Library opens book on strengths, weaknesses to plan improvements.” The Times-Tribune, 19 January 2021, https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-public-library-opens-book-on-strengths-weaknesses-to-plan-improvements/article_296d2968-f818-548a-bd5a-0ee5f422338b.html. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Lockwood, Jim. “Scranton Public Library takes community pulse.” The Times-Tribune, 6 July 2020, https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-public-library-surveys-community-on-next-chapter/article_df861692-bcb6-57be-9483-d6e5d0bb16f2.html. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Malls and Retail Wiki. “The Marketplace at Steamtown”, Fandom, https://malls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Marketplace_at_Steamtown. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Palumno, Andy. “Welcome to The Marketplace At Steamtown.” WNEP16, 31 May 2016, https://www.city-data.com/forum/northeastern-pennsylvania/226476-3-businesss-closed-downtown-scranton-soon.html.

Pennsylvania Labor History Society. “Timeline of Labor History in Pennsylvania.” https://palaborhistorysociety.org/timeline-of-labor-history-in-pennsylvania/. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

PowerLibrary. “Scranton Public Library – History of the Scranton Public Library.” https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Apscrl-hspl. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

The Times Tribune. “Library Ownership of Church Site Official.” Newspapers by Ancestry, https://www.newspapers.com/image/639879435/?clipping_id=77917182&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjYzOTg3OTQzNSwiaWF0IjoxNjk2Nzk1NDkwLCJleHAiOjE2OTY4ODE4OTB9.SnomedkhUTiaeFgwu9BsG3cPaUiZTudTp4H1k76AnlU. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

The Times Tribune. “Silkman House Branch Library Opens Tonight.” Newspapers by Ancestry, https://www.newspapers.com/article/77980305/the-times-tribune/. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.

Creating Community in Library Express’ History

Creating Community in Library Express’ History

Library Express has been committed to serving the community of Scranton in an interactive way since its opening in January of 2012. Over the past decade, this has been done in person, but this community has extended to online, as well. These interactions often come in the form of community events hosted in the store itself, though some are out-of-store interactions online. For example, on December 8, 2020, Library Express extended their book buying options to online customers through bookshop.com, which is a website that donates money to small bookstores, giving Library Express customers to help other communities (“Scranton Public Library/Library Express Bookstore.”). The monthly event calendar, shown on the Library Express website, is full of plans for the many types of consumers in the area, allowing them to be included in at least one, if not more, of the hosted events. The vast majority of these have been long-running occasions that have spanned multiple years in the decade Library Express has been open. For example, the ‘Seasoned Citizens Movie Matinees’ have spanned the second Tuesdays of most months since 2018 (“Library Express Calendar.”). The monthly Open Mic Nights have spanned the last six and a half years, since 2017.

Image from Library Express’ X page

However, the single event that has been present almost every month of every year since the opening of the bookstore have been the author book signings and readings. During this event, a selected author signs copies of their book in Library Express, usually accompanied by a reading or lecture. Their first ever book signing was Nancy McDonald’s book If You Can Play Scranton on January 28, 2012, and this tradition was quickly adopted by the bookstore, hosting authors of all genres and varieties (“Library Express Bookstore.”). Most books featured at these events are memoirs or history about the local area, but others have included genres such as romance, self-help, and young adult. Celebrated at these events have been both relatively unknown authors and famous ones, including Bobby Rydell, a famous 1960s singer, who signed his memoir. This inclusion of all authors allows people to see themselves at these types of events. Prospective authors feel comforted by the idea that, no matter how many copies they sell or how famous they become, there is always a place for them at Library Express. Of course, sales and fame do not determine a book’s quality, or the author’s quality for that matter, but it is a dream of most authors.

Image from Library Express’ X page

The popularity of memoirs and local history at the Library Express fits in perfectly with the community. The town of Scranton is a historic area with a widely known history of locomotives, but other aspects are lesser known, such as town name changes or the thriving mining industry (“About Scranton”). This history surrounds people and pushes them to write. Because so many people write what they know, the historic or memoir form is produced often in the area of Scranton. In this way, people are supported by others who have the same experiences. Allowing people to have a space of their own to show their hard work is an ideal area to create togetherness between people. Robert Hutton’s ideas about the comics industry are a near-perfect replica of the legitimacy created in other spaces of the world. He writes, “For the creators of independent comics, graphic novels, and other forms of comics that attempted to be more artistic and literary than the mainstream, the mainstream bookstore represented—and continues to represent—both artistic legitimacy and membership in a larger literary and artistic world” (Hutton 30). This parallel between industries shows the fact that all types of people have similar experiences, and this in itself is a community in the making.

Other events hosted in Library Express have included community discussion circles, set times for certain age demographics, and special interest clubs. The community discussion topics of the past have included parenting, writing, caring for archival books, and far more. Having a designated time and activity for certain demographics allows them to take part in the community and create their own based on who they meet and what they do. So-called ‘Teen Tuesdays’ are a perfect example of this. Setting aside time for teenagers, arguably one of the most isolated demographics, gives them the space to meet others who they might not meet otherwise and become more of a member of a community.  Children’s craft times are another example of this. Parents are able to bring their children to a fun activity while simultaneously meeting new people themselves. The community that can be created simply by pushing people to interact with others can create a reflected sense of yourself in other people. In other words, a community can be easily formed by people who have only a few of the same interests or identifications.

Image from Library Express’ home page

The development of Library Express as a store is, in a way, opposing the ideas present in many opinion pieces about bookstore quality. For example, Jack Perry’s piece Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist speaks about the deteriorating quality of American bookstores, especially shown in his quote, “No one in these places seems to love books, or even to like them, except as money makers” (Perry 109). This is the opposite quality of Library Express as a place, which was built on a love of books. The hybrid structure of a library-bookstore could not have been created out of capitalistic greed and apathy towards books, the way Perry seems to think. Libraries as a whole have notoriously been created to share literature to all people. Library Express is no different in this regard. Without the desire to help people and create community, the progression of the bookstore would not have been as steady as it has been.

Community, as well, is its own sense of place. Without a community, you are relatively aimless, drifting through the world on your own. However, other people can be a place that you can identify yourself with solely because of the shared sense of community. Tim Cresswell reflects and explains this view in his idea of what makes a space into a place: “One answer is that they are all spaces which people have made meaningful. They are all spaces that people are attached to in one way or another. This is the most straightforward and common definition of place—a meaningful location” (Cresswell 7). The creation of place has been achieved through the community gathered by Library Express. Their events of the past have transferred to communities of the present, perfectly tying people together in long-lasting ways.

Library Express is a bookstore that creates community and legitimacy in all who use it. This legitimacy creates different meanings to all who patronize the bookstore, but also pushes people to create their own place through the space, explained by Cresswell in his writing, “This anonymous space has a history—it meant something to other people. Now what do you do? A common strategy is to make the space say something about you… Thus, space is turned into place. Your place.” (Cresswell 2). In the process of creating their own place in Library Express, people have given parts of themselves to the store and surrounding area. Staff give themselves to create events and gather people, customers give themselves to the bookstore and to other people, and the bookstore itself gives a space for people to create a place in. Any and all aspects of Library Express have long been integral to the creation of the current bookstore. The current bookstore is akin to Perry’s recollection of his idealized bookstore: “I felt as if I were in the right place, in that little bookstore, and that the future of American literature had to be all right” (Perry 111). Though Library Express itself is not a historic venue, its creation of community and place have made it into an accepted part of the community that will be remembered in history.

Sources Cited

Hutton, Robert. “A mouse in the bookstore: Maus and the publishing industry.” South Central Review, vol. 32, no. 3, 2015, pp. 30–44, https://doi.org/10.1353/scr.2015.0025.

“Library Express Bookstore.” X, X, twitter.com/libraryexpress. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

“Library Express Calendar.” Lackawanna County Library System, lclshome.org/library-express-calendar/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Perry, Jack. “Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist.” Bibliophilia, 2001, pp. 107–111.

“Scranton Public Library/Library Express Bookstore.” Bookshop, bookshop.org/shop/libraryexpress. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Blackwell, 2011.

“About Scranton.” City of Scranton, scrantonpa.gov/our-community/work-from-here/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Images Cited

Free Online Timeline Maker, time.graphics/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

“Library Express Bookstore.” X, X, twitter.com/libraryexpress. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

“Library Express Bookstore.” Lackawanna County Library System, lclshome.org/b/library-express/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Library Express: Simply the Best

Library Express: Simply the Best

Library Express, located in Scranton, PA, is not only a bookstore, but a library as well. This dual purpose serves the surrounding community and its residents well, allowing people of all demographics to find what they are looking for, whether they are seeking to buy a bestseller or simply borrow a book that interests them. The offered variety of purchase and rental options at Library Express similarly reflect this urge to cater to all types. There are options to have a book mailed to your home if you are unable to go to the bookstore, online options for in-store pickup, and, of course, in-person options in the store itself. These options allow the community to utilize the bookstore in any way they are able to, and in any way they would like to (“Library Express Bookstore.”).  

In Place, a Short Introduction by Tim Cresswell, places are defined both as “spaces which people have made meaningful” and “spaces people are attached to in one way or another” (Creswell 7). These definitions allow people to make sense of the area they are in, especially the spaces most significant to them. These meanings applied to Library Express are various and change for each person. For some people, the location itself creates meaning, while other people create meanings through the environment of the bookstore and the community within it. Due to Library Express’ location in the Marketplace at Steamtown with a multitude of other stores, the location suggests business and a sense of constant activity. The immediate surroundings outside the mall include historical train museums and a multitude of restaurants. This physical sense of place allows the consumers at Library Express to have a meaningful area with everything they might want. In addition to the physical sense of place, the significance of the space itself is created through the large number of activities the Library Express hosts.  Included in this wide are open mic nights, technical assistance tables, and community discussions about topics such as parenting. Though these activities are not offered in the bookstore itself due to its small size, they are offered through the Lackawanna library system, which helps cater to people in multiple areas.   

Image courtesy of the Lackawanna Library System

Data from the US census and other surveys give further reasons that Library Express utilizes a great business model. In the surrounding area of the bookstore, the median income is far less than the state average, estimates reading about $41,000 dollars a year compared to $71,000 average (“Scranton, PA.”). With this, the employment rate of the same zip code is at a mere 36%, and 45% of their population 65 and older are in poverty. The obvious way to cater to this is to have multiple options for consumers. For those who cannot afford books due to poverty or unemployment, having the option to check out a library book is an excellent idea. By contrast, a significant amount of the population is comprised of well-educated people in their thirties who have the income to spend on books. The ability to buy books and browse in a store is appealing to this audience. In addition to this, the population of disabled people in the area is 23%, an almost 10% increase from the state average (Bureau). This is easily reflected in Library Express’ book mailing option for those who cannot be in the store itself. Because of this catering to their area, far more people are able to access books than they would otherwise.  

Image Courtesy of Data USA
Image Courtesy of United States Census Bureau

The idea of ‘place’ in a bookstore is easily reflected in Library Express. The dual library-bookstore combination allows consumers to feel at home and comforted as they recognize their own place in the order of things. As Creswell explains on page 2, place can be used in the context of social hierarchies in the world and “suggests that there are particular orderings of things in the world that have a socio-geographical basis”. This is a sentiment that is reflected through the comforting accommodations in Library Express. It is comforting to know your own place in the world and social expectations of you, and it is simultaneously comforting to have accommodations made to suit you. Libraries have been a part of the world for centuries, and the branching out of this model allows two communities to come together. The community of bookstore consumers can use a library model to explore multiple avenues of reading, and the library community is able to purchase a book they find especially good. Libraries and bookstores have opposite problems—people in libraries wish they could keep books and people in bookstores may not be able to afford the books they want. Library Express caters to all possible audiences by making books available in a multitude of ways, which ensures the people of the Scranton area are happy.  

Citations

Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Blackwell, 2011.

“Library Express Bookstore.” Lackawanna County Library System, lclshome.org/b/library-express/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

“Scranton, PA.” Data USA, datausa.io/profile/geo/scranton-pa. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Bureau, United States Census. Explore Census Data, data.census.gov/profile/ZCTA5_18503?g=860XX00US18503. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Images

“Library Express Bookstore.” Lackawanna County Library System, lclshome.org/b/library-express/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

“Scranton, PA.” Data USA, datausa.io/profile/geo/scranton-pa. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Bureau, United States Census. Explore Census Data, data.census.gov/profile/ZCTA5_18503?g=860XX00US18503. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Map courtesy of Brooke Nelson

Library Express Bookstore: buy or borrow!

Library Express Bookstore: buy or borrow!

The Electric City Trolley Museum. Image courtesy of Jim Cheney.

Scranton, Pennsylvania is well known as the Electric City. According to Google, it is known for its Steamtown National Historic Site. Some may know it from their Electric City Trolley Museum which has vintage trolleys. Others may only know Scranton from the US adaptation of the television series, The Office, which is set at a fictional paper company in Scranton. Or perhaps people may know Scranton just because of the colleges that are located there.

Head down to Scranton for a day or a weekend trip, and stop by the Marketplace at Steamtown where you may find whatever you need. As stated on the Marketplace at Steamtown’s website it is the “home to lifestyle services, professional offices, retail shops, and entertainment.” The Marketplace at Steamtown has many different stores for just about anyone. If you need to do some errands you may find what you need there. If you want to go to the gym after work, you can stop by Crunch Fitness. If you are a book lover who happens to be taking a trip to Scranton, be sure to stop by the Marketplace at Steamtown where they have a bookstore known as Library Express. This unique place is not only a bookstore, but it also functions as a branch of the Lackawanna County Library System. Much like a regular public library, Library Express will loan books to the members of its community. However, Library Express also allows you to go in and wander around so that you can buy yourself a new or used book as you would do at a regular bookstore.

Streetside view of the entrance of the Marketplace at Steamtown. Map courtesy of Google Maps.

The entrance of Library Express Bookstore. Image courtesy of the Library Express Bookstore Facebook page.

Library Express is located on the Second Floor of the Marketplace at Steamtown. Its storefront is paneled with oak, and it has large windows that have decorations that match the seasons. As seen in the picture below, the window display matches the current autumn season matching people’s love of fall foliage. When the bookstore is open its doors always remain wide open which allows anyone to stroll in. This provides a sense of feeling welcomed and may encourage people to enter the bookstore. Since Scranton has several universities, Library Express is very useful for college students. They can go to the bookstore and either buy the books that they need for school, or they could possibly just borrow them and give them back once they are done with them. Right next door is Lackawanna’s Dress for Success, a second-hand clothing store that all women to feel empowered by providing them with professional attire that allows them to thrive at work. There is also a little food court that has food that ranges from Auntie Anne’s Pretzels to Ruano’s Pizza & Pasta to Amori Sushi. So take a stroll inside the Marketplace at Steamtown, where you can have some lunch, and then go grab yourself the book you have been wanting to read. Plus if you happen to also like The Office then you can stop to check out the Scranton Welcome sign that is seen during the opening credits of the television series.

Library Express Window Decorated for the Fall. Image courtesy of the Library Express Bookstore Page

In Tim Cresswell’s “Defining Place” he talks a lot about what a place can be, whether it is a specific location, locale, or a sense of place. There are many things that are considered places such as your bedroom, a garden, a gym, Scranton, Marketplace at Steamtown, Electric City Aquarium & Reptile Den, etc. As Cresswell would say what makes these all considered places is that “they are spaces which people have made meaningful” (7), and that is what these places are to people. These places including Library Express provide people with what they may need or want. Library Express is a place that is meaningful to bookworms who cannot help but stop by and buy a new or used book. It is also a meaningful place for college students to stop by and possibly borrow a book if they do not wish to buy it since they already spend a lot of money just to go to their university.

According to the 2020 Census Bureau, the city of Scranton was predominately White (71.3%), the second highest demographic was Hispanic (9.51%), the third was Black or African American (5.39%), then following was Asian (5.07%). With three more demographics: Multiracial (Hispanic) at 3.17%, Multiracial (Non-Hispanic) at 3%, and Other (Hispanic) at 2.01%.

The age of the population is approximately 33% 65 years old or older and 15% at the age of 25 or younger. However, in the neighborhood that Library Express is in, about 35% of households whose incomes are less than $15K in a year.

In Laura J. Miller’s Reluctant Capitalists Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption, she mentions how the right kind of businesses are “nourished by its vital connections to a locality” and that they “can rise above profit considerations to provide community service as well as customer service” (122). This is exactly what Library Express does. The Library Express being a branch of a public library and bookstore allows it to provide not only for the community but also for a regular customer who may not be part of its neighborhood community.

Sources:

Texts

Cresswell, Tim. “Defining Place.” Place: An Introduction, 2013, p 7.

Library Express Facebook Page. Facebook. (n.d.). https://www.facebook.com/LibraryExpress/

Miller, Laura J. “Serving the Entertained Consumer: The Multifunction Bookstore.” Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2007, p. 122.

Mixed-use Facility: The Marketplace at Steamtown: United States. Steamtown. (n.d.). https://www.themarketplaceatsteamtown.com/ Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

We brighten the lives of women across the world. Dress for Success Lackawanna. (n.d.). https://lackawanna.dressforsuccess.org/ Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Images

The entrance of the bookstore: https://www.facebook.com/LibraryExpress/ Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

The window display: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=881111396810461&set=pb.100047348262907.-2207520000&type=3 Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Cheney, Jim. “17 of My Favorite Things to Do in Scranton, PA.” Uncovering PA, 14 Aug. 2023, https://uncoveringpa.com/things-to-do-in-scranton-pa Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Maps

Streetside view of the entrance of the Marketplace at Steamtown https://maps.app.goo.gl/8fpjpofh9HFcFUrm9

**Map created on https://mymaps.google.com/ **

Statistics

Households by IncomeClaritas, https://claritas360.claritas.com/mybestsegments/#zipLookup. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Scranton, PA. Data USA. (n.d.). https://datausa.io/profile/geo/scranton-pa#demographics Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

Library Express: Looking to the Library in the Economic Turmoil of the Rust Belt?

Library Express: Looking to the Library in the Economic Turmoil of the Rust Belt?

Growing up in the Appalachian backwater, I always expected the model store to stand on its own, both physically and economically: four external doors, at least one door, perhaps a roof, invoking the shape of a home, barn, or county store. Yet, as I’ve grown older and more knowledgeable, understanding of urban geography, architecture, and the market have proven my childhood sensibilities to be wrong on at least multiple fundamental levels.

I’m not sure that my youthful mind could have wrapped itself around the Library Express bookstore, something that takes something perhaps deceptively simple – the independent, small business of the bookstore – and directly challenges its place in your head.

The Library Express is located on the second floor of the Marketplace at Steamtown, the city mall in Scranton. On that floor, the bookstore is accompanied by most notably the gym, Scranton Public Market, Boscov’s, Luzerne Community College, but of course, also a number of other stores which, like Library Express, are relegated to being marked by code on the mall directory: clearly, they aren’t mainstays, but economic ephemera.

If the mall does not already function as its own miniaturized (albeit hypercommercialized) environment, one only needs to look out the mighty glass windows on the mall’s second floor to view the greater neighborhood sprawl.

The Marketplace is located at the south end of the “Downtown” neighborhood of Scranton, almost forming a wall at the intersection of the Lackawanna River and its tributary. The southwesterly flowing River flanks the neighborhood to the west, with its tributary making another natural border flowing east. The northeast holds the aforementioned expansive downtown neighborhood in full, reaching about until you hit Delmore. This is possibly the most modern part of the city (consider the President Biden Expressway) and where the Marketplace derives its style and commercial spirit. Behind the mall is most notably the Steamtown Railroad Museum, from which the Marketplace derives its name and elements of its cultural spirit. Though most businesses are located in the expansive downtown, a few do dot the peninsula to the south: a few small shops, a marijuana dispensary, industrial supply shops, medical clinics, and even a rehab Salvation’s Army. Like any good nosy neighbor, I find that this backyard view tells a lot about Scranton’s character.

While I’m not from Wyoming Valley, Susquehanna alumnus Bree Brennan is. When I attempted an interview about the bookstore, they were surprised to hear of it, and provided this explanation why:

“The economy [of Scranton] isn’t super sustainable. A lot of shops open and close within a couple of years… The mall is pretty rundown. It’s not exactly a tourist destination. No one comes to the city, except for Christmas lights and The Office.”

Bree Brennan
With most median incomes struggling to hit $50k, it’s not surprising to understand why the city suffers economically.

This downcast sentiment is one I’ve found to be pretty common amongst discussions of Scranton, if not Pennsylvania as a whole. Scranton is, or was, the Electric City, powered by its local anthracite. Yet, with the excision of the Rust Belt industry and thus the compounding redundancy of coal, Scranton’s economy languishes, struggling to find a niche. Its formerly proud factories and working class have now become the butt of many jokes, now being ranked consistently one of the saddest or ugliest locales.

Despite losing its prominence, coal remains the city’s largest export. Obviously, this is a cause for concern, but what are the city people to do about it?
With coal mining out of the picture, the city no longer has a common working identity to unify them.

All of this seemingly in spite of the city’s learned populace: despite a relatively small population at around 75,000, it holds at least four universities in Scranton alone. The Valley also possesses nine libraries, of which, any uninformed reader might be shocked to find actually count the Library Express as one of their own! Yes, it’s a dual bookstore and public library! It performs this dual role exceptionally: to address Bree’s concerns, it proudly sells The Office merchandise (ranked above its Electric City identity on its bookshop.org page) to cater to outsider tourists as well as the library lending services it offers to city denizens.

With economic reasons already cited, should this fact shock you? Perhaps this is the perfect place for such experimentality. In the Rust Belt or other economically-suffering locales, sometimes the most powerful chains are those of the government. As recanted in Miller, the standardization of chains – perhaps interchangeable with the standardization of the library, thanks to the work of John Dewey and other librarians? – lends itself well to shopping centers like the mall (Miller, p. 91). Furthermore, in such a mercurial economic environment, the bookstore is sure to suffer, and, as Carrion notes, the library might ensure a more permanent place (Carrion, p. 41). Were these bookstores to fall, and in the Rust Belt they most certainly have, they would merely become more empty spaces in the mall. It is in the hearts and minds of the people that the space is given meaning to become the place (Creswell, p. 10), and who could ever own the public library but the people?

With all that in mind, this dual-role public library venture might be the model for the post-capitalist bookstore of the future. With Scranton’s layered history of labor and public action, it certainly fits the locale – though, more on that in my next post.

Sources

Charts

Data USA. “Domestic Tonnage in Tonnage.” https://datausa.io/profile/geo/scranton-city-dunmore-old-forge-taylor-moosic-boroughs-puma-pa. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Data USA. “Median Earnings by Industry.” https://datausa.io/profile/geo/scranton-city-dunmore-old-forge-taylor-moosic-boroughs-puma-pa. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Data USA. “Occupations.” https://datausa.io/profile/geo/scranton-city-dunmore-old-forge-taylor-moosic-boroughs-puma-pa. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Interview

Brennan, Bree. Interview. Conducted by Gavin Knouse. 18 Sept. 2023.

Maps

100 Penn Ave. Google Maps, 2023, maps.google.com.

Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau. “Lackawanna County Neighborhoods.”, https://www.visitnepa.org/maps-info/scranton/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Map of Scranton. Google Maps, 2023, maps.google.com.

Seliga, Christopher. “Scranton Neighborhoods.” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scranton_Neighborhoods.png. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Steamtown National Historic Site. Photograph taken by Levi Naugle. Google Maps, 2023, maps.google.com.

The Marketplace at Steamtown. https://www.themarketplaceatsteamtown.com/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Misc. Links

Scranton Public Library/Library Express Bookstore. Bookshop.org, https://bookshop.org/shop/libraryexpress, n.d.. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Tripadvisor. “Photo: Library Express Bookstore & Library.” https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60969-d949455-i476270575-The_Marketplace_at_Steamtown-Scranton_Pennsylvania.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

News Videos

BBC. “Why do people like bashing Pennsylvania?” YouTube, 27 Nov. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGSVobnGUCE. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Lange, Stacy. “Ugly Accent? What Ugly Accent?” WNEP, 2 Oct. 2014, https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/ugly-accent-what-ugly-accent/523-5cb0460b-bf1f-4767-bc1f-7b5bfdc3c365. Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.

Theory

Carrión, Jorge. Bookshops: A Reader’s History, translated by Peter Bush. Biblioasis, n.d..

Cresswell, Tim. Place: a short introduction. Blackwell Publishing, n.d..

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. University of Chicago Press, 2007.