News from the 12th Street Books folks, who are due to arrive on Atlantic Avenue soon, moving from their original location on, yes, 12th Street in Manhattan.
The owner of the shop said they'll currently in the process of moving and shop be open by mid-September. In time for the Atlantic Antic, maybe? That would be nice.
With Heights Books' future in doubt, the arrival of 12th Street Books in Brooklyn is most welcome.
I went to the bookstore which has a terrific selection - but the rudeness of the proprietor was awful. I brought some books in for possible sale or trade and he proceeded to damage a couple of the spines, opening them flat; when I called him on that he said there wasn't any problem. I hope the Heights stays in business, and there's Unnamable books as well - both these places are courteous and don't treat their customers like scum.
ReplyDelete- Alan Sondheim (who also repairs books)
I'm one of the people who helps to run Heights Books. We've moved from Montague Street and are establishing our new home on Smith Street between Pacific and Dean.
ReplyDeleteWe made news in February 2009 with our dumpster filled with discarded books and bookcases as part of our move. We got rid of unsale-able books, books that had sat on our shelves for years or nearly a decade with no takers, and books that people were dumping on us. (You wouldn't believe how many times we found sacks of books in front of the store when we opened up each morning.) We tried to donate books, but the problem is that those who would love to get donations of books don't have the resources to come get the books, and we didn't have the resources to get the books to them. One honorable exception: Long Island College Hospital took ten cartons of books, as much as they could pick up, for the patients' library.
As for donating to Housing Works, actually for a good long while Housing Works was giving us their overflow of donations till we found ourselves overwhelmed.
We hope that all our old friends and as many new friends as possible come to see us at our new location, 120 Smith Street (between Pacific and Dean), when we reopen in mid March.
Was Sondheim referring to the rudeness at Atlantic Books? I'll second that. I bought several books there and asked for some specific titles and wondered if the proprietor (?) might call me if they ever came in. His response, No.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to make friends in the hood. Needless to say, I have not returned.