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Like most booksellers, Chris Saccherie didn’t expect 2020 to be much different from 2019 after he jumped headfirst into the business last September to save Linden Tree Children’s Books in Los Altos from permanently shuttering when no buyers stepped up to purchase the decades-old store. With no prior book experience, the Palo Alto resident and his former LinkedIn co-worker Florina Grosskurth decided to purchase the shop at 265 State St. with the vision of turning it into a community hub.
“The year started off pretty well, actually,” Saccherie said. “We had just wrapped up the first in-school book fair we had done. … Sales were strong through the first couple months.”
Fast forward to March, and the duo, along with virtually every other independent bookstore owner, found themselves facing an industry where all the rules had suddenly changed: COVID-19 brought shutdowns and the halt of in-store services. The strategy was no longer about how to compete against big brick-and-mortar chains and online industry giants, but how to reimagine the future of bookselling during a pandemic.
Linden Tree pivoted from in-person shopping and story times to virtual one-on-one video-chat browsing sessions and stay-at-home family book salons hosted on Facebook Live.
“For the first three months, it was all online orders,” Saccherie said. “It was a big change, going from people coming into the store, browsing books and checking them out to being kind of an online fulfillment center.”
Likewise, Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park expanded its online catalogue and this month began its Shopping on the Outdoor Plaza program to provide patrons an opportunity to browse merchandise and speak in person with booksellers under a tent set up outside the store. Kepler’s Literary Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the company, launched a new series of virtual events on Zoom called Refresh the Page, which features online discussions, classes, seminars and author events.
CEO Praveen Madan said he felt ready for the unexpected shift, having reshaped the company into a hybrid-business model eight years ago that includes a for-profit bookstore and a nonprofit events organization.
“Because we started the journey years ago, by the time we got the pandemic, we were actually in really strong shape,” Madan said.
On Aug. 29, indie booksellers like Linden Tree and Kepler’s will be celebrating their resilience with special merchandise and author events during the annual Independent Bookstore Day that was postponed from April 25 due to the pandemic. Founded in Northern California in 2014, the event aims to put the spotlight on community bookstores and the joys of reading.
San Jose cartoonist Gene Luen Yang will discuss “Dragon Hoops,” his latest graphic novel, at a free Zoom videoconference at 10:30 a.m. Readers can join other virtual events, livestreamed by Zoom, at indiebookstoreday.com.
This year, the event seems more relevant than ever as booksellers usher in a new era.
“The next 12 to 24 months are just going to look very different in terms of our business market,” Madan said. “We’re trying to build what I call a ‘next-generation bookstore’ firmly anchored in its social mission, helping people to become better readers, better writers and to engage with each other around important issues of the day. I think that mission is still going to be relevant beyond the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election.”
Elena Eustaquio, marketing and events manager at Books Inc., which has locations in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village and on Mountain View’s Castro Street, said the store has participated in Independent Bookstore Day since the event launched in 2014. She said the event provides local bookstores the opportunity to bring authors and patrons together for special events and book signings.
The YA @ Books Inc. program is launching its daylong virtual events with debut fantasy novelist Sasha Laurens, author of “A Wicked Magic.”
Although this year’s event won’t involve in-person appearances, many book enthusiasts can still find the day a great time to try new works by local authors, Eustaquio said. This year, Books Inc. plans to offer exclusive items for purchase on a first-come, first-served basis.
“I think independent bookstores are part of what makes a community a community. They provide expertise. There’s nothing like a recommendation from a bookseller who has read the book,” Saccherie said. “People are still passionate about reading, and children’s books especially lend themselves to be read in a physical form.”
Contributing writer Michael Berry can be emailed at mikeberry@mindspring.com.
If you’re interested
Local bookshops are celebrating Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, Aug. 29, with on-site shopping, virtual author events, online classes and limited-edition merchandise. The event, which got its start as California Bookstore Day, was launched by local writer and editor Samantha Schoech in 2014 to put a spotlight on books and reading. The event has grown every year in scope and participation. In 2019, 580 independent book stores nationwide participated. Here is what’s happening at the following local bookstores:
Books Inc.
Author Sasha Laurens will talk about her fantasy debut novel, “A Wicked Magic,” 1 p.m., via Zoom; producer and writer Sarah Faith Alterman will share her darkly funny and poignant memoir,” Let’s Never Talk About This Again” at 3 p.m., via Zoom; and editors Jerry Thomspson and Owen Hill will talk about the latest installment in the award-winning Akashic Noir anthology series, “Berkeley Noir” at 5 p.m., via Zoom. Books Inc. will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information or to register, go to booksinc.net.
Kepler’s Books
Kepler’s will be open for drop-by service in the plaza from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For online events and other activities, go to keplers.com.
Linden Tree Children’s Books
Linden Tree will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (maximum of eight shoppers at a time). For online events and other activities, go to lindentreebooks.com.
Indie audiobooks
Book enthusiasts can purchase audiobooks directly through their local independent bookstores through Libro.fm. The audiobook service allows customers to designate a portion of their audiobook purchase to an independent bookstore of their choice. In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, Libro.fm is offering a free audiobook credit.
