Rick Simonson

Since Vroman Times
May 2, 2008

Back in January, some readers of this space may recall, I was part of a small delegation of U.S. and U.K. booksellers and librarians who visited Beijing, attending a book fair, toured around, and participated in an 'East/West' bookselling dialogue. (Readers of this space may recall a partial chronicle of this journey, which had its definite moments ... the balance of the account is still pending, somewhere at sea, my own slow boat back ...).

There was a seeming randomness to who went there from here. Sarah McNally of McNally Robinson in New York, Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, Paul Yamazaki of San Francisco's City Lights, and myself, had all been drafted, almost on the fly, to participate in a panel on translated literature in bookstores that was at the Miami Bookfair in November. I could see why all of us were there, but could think of others who also would have spoken well to the subject. Various purposes were served by our particular foursome, including geography. It did go fairly well, or well enough. Still, I wasn't sure it was roadshow material, at least where my contributions were concerned.

No sooner were the four of us back from the warm sun of Miami but that another invitation came our way, also on short notice. This was for Beijing, the beginning of January. The four of us, again? There would be five. The fifth was Allison Hill, general manager of Vroman's in Pasadena. And by what great intentional plan was she invited? She had seen an item on a blog looking for U.S. booksellers interested in a possible trip to Beijing. Allison was the only one who responded. Anyone else, and who knows what would have transpired.

As random as the composition of this group was in being devised, it worked very well in giving our Chinese counterparts a cross-section sample of different independent bookstores from different parts of the U.S., each (as presentations would reveal) with fairly distinct ways of going about their business, each also with great commonality of purpose, in community presence. Most interestingly, it was a broad swatch of booksellers in terms of chronology.

There was Sarah McNally with her vibrant, three-year-old store in New York's SoHo district. There was Karl Pohrt with Shaman Drum, started in 1980. I was there for Elliott Bay, which launched in 1973. And Paul Yamazaki, from City Lights, which Lawrence Ferlinghetti started in 1953, the country's first all-paperback store. All of these stores - the times they were created in, the state of bookselling - are within living memory of people with us today.

With Vroman's, begun in 1894, however, we are talking something entirely differently. We're not just talking before computers. That was ... before radio, before airplanes, before the Spanish-American War. At our presentation in Beijing, Allison Hill gave a seamless presentation of the store, touching on its past, but keying it to being a vital part of the present. The balance of her talk was the most future-inclined of anyone's talk, focusing on digitalization.

That Vroman's received this year's "PW Bookseller of the Year" honors is apt recognition. (Note to PW types: is there an online listing anywhere of past Bookseller of the Year honorees? Peeking and poking around, I found as far back as about 1993, but couldn't find a longer more comprehensive list. Anyone?) I wonder, for starters, if any store as venerable in age has ever received this award.

As Edward Nawotka's profile in the April 28 issue of PW attests, the focus at Vroman's today does seem very much on the present - and the future (including the place of books in the scheme of things). Vroman's having its roots so much in the past is perhaps a sign of its adaptibility. Having the stationery store it does (a separate storefront) harkens back to a time when many bookstores were also stationers (printers, too, for that matter ... instore print-on-demand devices may be a form of return to those roots when they come).

In the PW piece, it's the perspective of majority shareholder Joel Sheldon (a third-generation owner) that comes closest to assessing the past, the cycles worked through, those of shopping (mail order and internet included) and media (newspapers, television, and the internet are all cited, but radio and movies could also have been included). These are huge sweeping things.

There are probably more lessons to be learned than this article can even hint at. It's safe to say that how businesses (enterprises, organizations, even communities) can pass what's of value and worth along as they 'age,' undergo generational transitions, how certain essentials can be inherited and worked with/built upon - is of vital, almost ecological importance.

As nice as the "Bookseller of the Year" honor is, something says that these are laurels the good people at Vroman's won't be resting upon. Each day is to be newly met.

Posted by Rick Simonson on May 2, 2008 | Comments (0)