List of independent bookstores in the United States

This is a list of independent bookstores in the United States, both current and defunct, which have had physical ("brick-and-mortar") locations. For bookstores with at least 4 locations, see list of bookstore chains.

Bart's Books in Ojai
Booksmith, San Francisco
The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles
Kramers (bookstore)
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge
Bluestockings in Manhattan
The Mysterious Bookshop, Manhattan

Current

Name State Location(s) Type
Grassrootz Bookstore Arizona Phoenix African-American
Larry Edmunds Bookshop California Los Angeles
The Last Bookstore California Los Angeles
Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural California Los Angeles
Kepler's Books California Menlo Park
Bart's Books California Ojai
Vroman's Bookstore California Pasadena
Libélula Books & Co. California San Diego
Mysterious Galaxy California San Diego and Redondo Beach
Warwick's California San Diego
Booksmith California San Francisco
Borderlands Books California San Francisco
Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore California San Francisco Anarchist
City Lights Bookstore California San Francisco
Green Apple Books & Music California San Francisco
Marcus Books California San Francisco (2 locations)
Book Soup California West Hollywood
Circus of Books California West Hollywood LGBT
Mile High Comics Colorado Denver
Bloodroot Connecticut Bridgeport Feminist
R.J. Julia Booksellers Connecticut Madison
JF Books District of Columbia
Kramers (bookstore) District of Columbia
MahoganyBooks District of Columbia
Politics and Prose District of Columbia (3 locations)
For Keeps (bookstore) Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Atlanta
Charis Books & More Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Decatur Feminist
Quimby's Bookstore Illinois Chicago
Seminary Co-op Illinois Chicago
Unabridged Bookstore Illinois Chicago LGBT
Women & Children First Illinois Chicago LGBT/Feminist
Prairie Lights Iowa Iowa City
ACME Comics & Collectibles Iowa Sioux City
Rainy Day Books Kansas Fairway
Eighth Day Books Kansas Wichita
Joseph-Beth Booksellers Kentucky Lexington
Weiser Antiquarian Books Maine York
Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse Maryland Baltimore Anarchist
Lucy Parsons Center Massachusetts Boston Anarchist
Grolier Poetry Bookshop Massachusetts Cambridge
Harvard Book Store Massachusetts Cambridge
The Bookmill Massachusetts Montague
The Odyssey Bookshop Massachusetts South Hadley
That's Entertainment Massachusetts Worcester
John K. King Books Michigan Detroit
Birchbark Books Minnesota Minneapolis
DreamHaven Books Minnesota Minneapolis Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Mayday Books Minnesota Minneapolis
Moon Palace Books Minnesota Minneapolis
Mager's & Quinn Minnesota Minneapolis
Black Garnet Books Minnesota Saint Paul African-American
SubText: a Bookstore Minnesota Saint Paul
Square Books Mississippi Oxford
Left Bank Books Missouri St. Louis
Montana Valley Book Store Montana Alberton
Gambler's Book Shop Nevada Las Vegas
The Writer's Block Nevada Las Vegas
The Lit. Bar New York The Bronx
Book Thug Nation New York Brooklyn
Books Are Magic New York Brooklyn (2 locations)
Community Bookstore New York Brooklyn
Greenlight Bookstore New York Brooklyn
PowerHouse Books New York Brooklyn
Spoonbill & Sugartown Books New York Brooklyn
Troubled Sleep New York Brooklyn
Unnameable Books New York Brooklyn
Argosy Book Store New York Manhattan
Albertine Books New York Manhattan
Bluestockings New York Manhattan Feminist
Books of Wonder New York Manhattan
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe New York Manhattan
Left Bank Books New York Manhattan
McNally Jackson New York Manhattan/Brooklyn (5 locations)
The Mysterious Bookshop New York Manhattan
Printed Matter, Inc New York Manhattan
Rizzoli Bookstore New York Manhattan
Strand Bookstore New York Manhattan
Womanbooks New York Manhattan Feminist
Yu & Me Books New York Manhattan
Astoria Bookshop New York Queens
Firestorm Cafe & Books North Carolina Asheville Anarchist/LGBT
Internationalist Books North Carolina Chapel Hill
The Book Loft of German Village Ohio Columbus
Two Dollar Radio Headquarters Ohio Columbus
The Duck Store Oregon Eugene
Powell's Books Oregon Portland
Rose City Book Pub Oregon Portland
Moravian Book Shop Pennsylvania Bethlehem College
Baldwin's Book Barn Pennsylvania Philadelphia
Giovanni's Room Bookstore Pennsylvania Philadelphia LGBT
Hakim's Bookstore Pennsylvania Philadelphia African-American
Wooden Shoe Books and Records Pennsylvania Philadelphia Anarchist
City Books Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
Otto Bookstore Pennsylvania Williamsport
Hub City Bookshop South Carolina Spartanburg
BookPeople Texas Austin
Kindred Stories Texas Houston African-American
Pariyatti Washington Onalaska
Chin Music Press Washington Seattle
Elliott Bay Book Company Washington Seattle
Fuel Coffee & Books Washington Seattle (3 locations)
Third Place Books Washington Seattle (3 locations)
Left Bank Books Washington Seattle Anarchist
Queen Anne Book Company Washington Seattle
University Book Store Washington Seattle
Taylor Books West Virginia Charleston
A Room of One's Own Wisconsin Madison LGBT/Feminist
Renaissance Books Wisconsin Milwaukee
Woodland Pattern Book Center Wisconsin Milwaukee

Historical

The following is a list of independent bookstores which no longer sell books at brick-and-mortar stores but did in the past.

Name State City Years active Type
Acres of Books California Long Beach 1934–2008
Bodhi Tree Bookstore California Los Angeles (eventually West Hollywood) 1970–2011
The Book Shop California Hayward ?–2017
A Change of Hobbit California Southern California[1][2] 1972–1991 Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Cody's Books California Berkeley 1956–2008
Comics and Comix California Berkeley 1972–2004
Computer Literacy Bookshops California Sunnyvale 1983–2000
Daliel's Bookstore California Berkeley 1945–1952
Dawson's Book Shop California Los Angeles 1905–?
Dutton's Books California Valley Village (Los Angeles) and Burbank 1960–2006
Eso Won Books California Los Angeles 1988–2022 African-American
Fahrenheit 451 Books California Laguna Beach 1968–1994
A Different Light California Silver Lake (Los Angeles) and The Castro (San Francisco) 1979–2011 LGBT
John Cole's Book Shop California La Jolla (San Diego) 1946–2005
Lobal Orning California Topanga 2003–2008
Midnight Special Bookstore California Santa Monica 1970–2004
Old Wives Tales California San Francisco 1976–1995 Feminist
The Other Change of Hobbit California Berkeley[3] later in El Cerrito (now mail-order only) 1977–2014 Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Printers Inc. Bookstore California Palo Alto 1978–2001
A Woman's Place California Oakland 1970–1989 Feminist
Brian MacKenzie Infoshop District of Columbia 2003–2008
Lambda Rising District of Columbia 1974–2010 LGBT
Teaching for Change Bookstore District of Columbia ?-2015
Washington Bookshop District of Columbia 1938–1950
World Bank Infoshop District of Columbia 1996–2016
Haslam's Bookstore Florida St. Petersburg 1933–2020
Open Books & Records Florida Miami Beach 1979–1994
Kroch's and Brentano's Illinois Chicago 1954–1995
New World Resource Center Illinois Chicago ?
Prairie Avenue Bookshop Illinois Chicago ?–2009
Better World Books Indiana Goshen and Mishawaka 2002–2019
Boxcar Books Indiana Bloomington 2001–2017
Iron Rail Book Collective Louisiana New Orleans 2003–2014 Anarchist
Greetings & Readings Maryland Hunt Valley 1969–2019
Victor Kamkin Bookstore Maryland Rockville 1953–2002
Globe Corner Bookstore Massachusetts Cambridge 1982–2010
New Words Bookstore Massachusetts Cambridge 1974–2008
Schoenhof's Foreign Books Massachusetts Cambridge 1856–2017
Marwil Bookstore Michigan Detroit 1948–2013
Amazon Bookstore Cooperative Minnesota Minneapolis 1970–2012 LGBT/Feminist
Common Good Books Minnesota Saint Paul 2006–2019
Coliseum Books New York Manhattan 1974–2007
Community Bookstore New York Cobble Hill, Brooklyn 1974–2016
A Different Light New York Manhattan 1979–2011 LGBT
Forbidden Planet New York Manhattan Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Gotham Book Mart New York Manhattan 1920–2007
J. Levine Books and Judaica New York Manhattan 1905–2019
Librairie de France New York Manhattan 1935–2009
Nkiru Books New York Brooklyn 1976–?
Oscar Wilde Bookshop New York Manhattan 1967–2009 LGBT
Pomander Book Shop New York Manhattan 1975–1990s
St. Mark's Bookshop New York Manhattan 1977–2016
The Wooster Book Company Ohio Wooster 1992–2017
Cameron's Books and Magazines Oregon Portland 1938–2021
In Other Words Women's Books and Resources Oregon Portland 1993–2018 Feminist
Leary's Book Store Pennsylvania Philadelphia 1836–1969
Beauty and the Book Texas Jefferson ?

See also

References

  1. ^ Duke Helfand, "For Science Fiction Fans, Old Habit Dies Hard : Change of Hobbit Devotees Are Already Mourning Bookstore Demise", Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10, 1991.
  2. ^ Sherry Gottlieb, "Escape Velocity: A History of A Change of Hobbit Bookstore".
  3. ^ Bullock, Ken (August 10, 2010). "The Other Change of Hobbit is Living in South Berkeley". The Berkeley Daily Planet.