MANSFIELD — The first of my favorite bookshops was located somewhere in the maze of the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre in South London.
Nameless – there was no front sign – it was run by an aggressive Irishman who could have been the model for the proprietor in the ‘Black Books’ TV show.
“Of course we don’t do student discounts!” he once roared at a quaking customer. “You’ve just made yourself look like a complete eejit in front of all these people!”
Despite the owner’s dark moods and occasional flare-ups, this cluttered back room was a little oasis of tattered erudition and haphazard knowledge. There was no hard sell. It was a place to loiter in your lunch hour.
Over the years the various independent bookstores I have known, in towns big and small, have become part of my mental landscape. I often think of these places, I occasionally dream about them, and when I pull one of the books I’ve bought from them off my shelf I can remember when and where I first picked it up.
This is typically not the case with the books I’ve purchased at a Barnes & Noble or ordered from Amazon.
Our own little downtown oasis is Main Street Books. It’s right across the road from the ‘Relax’ coffee shop, and the two businesses complement and support each other.
It’s not a big bookshop, by any means. At the back there’s just enough room for a small upstairs section, a sort of book loft, and this is where the various readings, discussions, performances and other book events take place.
It was was here last week that the author Donald Ray Pollock could be found, reading from his new novel ‘The Heavenly Table’ and talking about his work.
There was an overflow crowd that evening, spilling all the way down the stairs from the book loft, with the latecomers hanging around below firing questions overhead. Donald was happy to shout his answers back down.
It was a fascinating hour or so. Mr. Pollock read his own work very well (not always the case) and the crowd responded with intelligent and thoughtful questions (again, not a given). I felt very lucky: intimate events such as these provide a window into the author and his work that nothing else can match.
Responsible for making all this happen is Main Street Books manager Llalan Fowler. After growing up here in Mansfield, Llalan worked in bookshops in Boston, New York and Washington D.C. before returning to run the shop in her home town.
I recently asked Llalan about the first bookshop she worked in.
“Second Story Books in Washington, DC. It was horribly musty, and stacked to the ceiling with books – some of which were impossible to get to. It was great.”
I’ve never been to Second Story books but Llalan’s description brings to mind the disorganized appeal of some of my favorite bookstores.
I once visited a place in D.C. called ‘Capital Books,’ a chaotic, three-storey mess of a place, with precarious stacks of books and the most eccentric hand-written signs imaginable, such as “O.HENRY ABOVE REFRIGERATOR” and “WALT WHITMAN BY SINK WITH LAMP IN IT.”
Later, Llalan moved to Boston and worked at the famous Globe Corner Bookstore (which sadly now exists in online form only).
“It specialized in travel books. So many people who came in had great stories of their adventures.”
For most of her time on the east coast, Llalan had no idea she would be returning to Mansfield to work in her old local book shop. But there was a memory that stuck with her.
“It was a memory of this place (Main St Books) from childhood, from when I was in high school.
Sometimes my parents would take me to Brunches cafe and afterward we’d come to browse in the book store. I was sat in the window seat upstairs, it was raining, and I thought ‘I could just do this forever.’
“Now, I want everyone to feel like that. I want a place that anyone can feel comfortable in.”
“We can’t offer the kind of general price cuts that Barnes and Noble do,” Llalan admits, “but we have our own kind of discounts. Students get 15 percent off, educators get 20 percent. And we’ve just started a 10 percent discount if you show your library card.”
My most recent purchase had been discounted 15 percent and I asked why.
“Well, that’s for new hardbacks. I don’t like charging full price. You know, it seems like everyone in my family has been a librarian at some point. I’m like the black sheep in the family because I actually sell books!”
Outside the front of the shop, on the sidewalk, Llalan maintains a sandwich board on which she can chalk up details of offers or events, or just a message of the day. Recently, she used the space to spell out the value of this local independent business, as follows:
“Our prices are often higher than Amazons. What does the extra money buy you?
– Wages & taxes that go back into our local economy
– Free events for all
– An outlet for creativity
– A home for culture
– Real, knowledgeable, often friendly staff”
I agree strongly with all of that. It is more expensive to buy a book here, so I pace myself. I borrow books from the library. I dip into the many unread books I already have in my own collection. When I do order a book, I order it here. It feels good, like getting meat from the local butcher, and I know Llalan will always take an interest in what I’m looking for.
Come in and take a look around next time you’re downtown, or plan on coming to one of the frequent book events. Next up is Borderlands: Poetry on the Edge on Sunday Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. Borderlands is a monthly reading series that features local poets and a chance for walk-ins to read their own work.
Find out more at http://mainstreetbooksmansfield.com/.
