NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Amber Salazar is the kind of idealist you just knew would end up running a bookstore 鈥 a lifelong reader who felt angered 鈥渢o the core鈥 as she learned of book bans around the country.
A resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Salazar last year opened Banned Wagon Books, a pop-up store she sets up everywhere from wineries to coffee shops, featuring such frequently censored works as Angie Thomas’ 鈥淭he Hate U Give鈥 and 鈥淏别濒辞惫别诲.鈥
鈥淚 decided that no matter what it looked like, I was going to open a bookstore so that I could contribute in some small way and stand up for intellectual freedom in the U.S.,鈥 explains Salazar, 33, who donates 5% of her profits to the and other organizations opposing bans. 鈥淪ince we were coming out of the pandemic at that time, I started thinking about ways to combine my love of literature and passion for intellectual freedom with my appreciation for the small businesses in my city who weathered some difficult storms through shutdowns and supply chain concerns.鈥
Salazar is among a wave of new 鈥 and, often, younger 鈥 owners who have helped the independent book community dramatically expand, intensify and diversify. Independent bookselling is not a field for fortune seekers: Most local stores, whether run by retirees, bookworms or those switching careers in middle age, have some sense of higher purpose. But for many who opened in recent years, it’s an especially critical mission. Narrative in Somerville, Massachusetts, identifies as 鈥減roudly immigrant-woman owned & operated, with an emphasis on amplifying marginalized voices & experiences.鈥 In Chicago, Call & Response places 鈥渢he voices of Black and other authors of color at the center of our work.鈥
Independent stores will likely never recover their power of 50 years ago, before the rise of Barnes & Noble superstores and the online giant . But the days of industry predictions of their demise seem well behind. In 2016, there were 1,244 members in the trade group, at 1,749 locations. As of this month, the ABA has 2,863 individual members, at 3,281 locations. And more than 200 stores are in the process of opening.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible, this kind of energy,鈥 says association CEO Allison Hill, remembering how, during the pandemic, she feared that the ABA could lose up to a quarter of its membership. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think any of us would have predicted this a few years ago.鈥
Hill and others acknowledge that even during an era of growth, booksellers remain vulnerable to political and economic challenges. Costs of supplies remain high and could grow higher because of tariffs. ABA President Cynthia Compton, who runs two stores in the Indianapolis area, says that sales to schools are down because have made educators more cautious about what they purchase.
The ABA鈥檚 own website advises: 鈥淧assion and knowledge have to be combined with business acumen if your bookstore is to succeed.鈥
Salazar herself is part of an Instagram chat group, Bookstores Helping Bookstores, with such like-minded sellers as the owners of The Crafty Bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana, 鈥渟pecializing in Indie books & custom bookish accessories,鈥 and the Florida-based Chapter Bound, an online store with a calling 鈥渢o connect great books with great people 鈥 at prices everyone can afford.鈥
鈥淚n the age of social media, people are craving genuine connection and community,鈥 Salazar says. 鈥淎nd books often provide a catalyst to that feeling of community.鈥
Stephen Sparks, who is 47 and since 2017 has owned Point Reyes Books northwest of San Francisco, believes that the pandemic gave sellers of all ages a heightened sense of their role in the community and that the return of Trump to the White House added new urgency. Sales are up 20% this year, he says, if only because 鈥渄uring tough times, people come to bookstores.鈥
The younger owners bring with them a wide range of prior experience. Salazar had worked in retail management for nine years, switched to property and casualty insurance sales 鈥渋n search of advancement opportunity鈥 and, right before she launched her store, was a business process owner, 鈥渁 blend of project management, customer and employee experience management.鈥
Courtney Bledsoe, owner of Call & Response, had been a corporate attorney before undertaking a 鈥渇ull career shift鈥 and risking a substantial drop in income. The 30-year-old held no illusions that owning a store meant 鈥減ouring a cup of coffee and reading all day.鈥 Calling herself 鈥渞isk averse,鈥 she researched the book retail business as if preparing for a trial, before committing herself and launching Call & Response in May 2024.
鈥淭his endeavor is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life,鈥 she says, acknowledging it could take a couple of years before she can even pay herself a salary. 鈥淲e’re just doing this to serve the community, doing something we love to do, providing people with great events, great reading. It’s been a real joy.鈥
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