Skip to main content

Declaring Your Independence

Why It's Important to be an Independent Bookseller

(The following is an essay I wrote for a Bookseller’s contest and it answers the question why Otto’s has lasted 166 years and why we make a big deal about it by pulling out all the stops to celebrate our anniversary every year.)

In this era of homogenized retailing, it’s more important than ever for a community to have an independent bookseller to hold a mirror to its face and say "This is who we are."

When I buy books, I think of the particular customer who bought this kind of book before and who might want another on a similar subject. The books I buy might not have huge print runs or have celebrities endorsing them, but they reflect the interests of the individuals in my community. Visitors to our store will look at the selection in certain sections and say "You have customers for this type of book? I want to stick around and meet them!" My inventory is a reflection of my community.

When I sell books, I remember who got what for whom last birthday and what they thought about it when they came in to share their reaction. Although I can’t read all the books (Really!), I talk about the books with my customers and pass on their recommendations as well as my own. Customers who are not especially looking to buy a book, stop in to tell us their good news and their bad news. We share in their lives. We are a vital link in our community.

When a book is written by a member of our community or is written about our community, our advertising and celebration gives that book far more publicity than it would receive from a chain store.

When our community has to deal with a local crisis, we supply helpful books and share in our customers’ pain. We can be a voice for our community’s values in our advertising.

When the specters of the Patriot Act are raised and booksellers live with the threat of government subpoenaing their records, our customers are assured that our bookkeeping does not reflect who bought what—Big Brother would have to read our minds for that information. Our community is safe with this independent bookseller.

When I retire or die (Same thing?) I will have the satisfaction of having been a vital part of the life of our community. I have been its independent bookseller.