Meet a Bookseller

Not a Bookseller

by Pam, The Bookloft's owner

I am not a bookseller. Or, at least, not exactly. I do own a bookstore, and I do sometimes work downstairs selling books, talking to customers about what they’re looking for, what they’ve read, whether they are interested in trying something new that I could recommend. All of these things are the actions and behaviors of a bookseller, but still, I am not really a bookseller. My staff at The Bookloft: they are all booksellers. A bookseller at an independent bookstore is not a sales clerk. They all have at least bachelor’s degrees; they are all extremely well read in various genres; they all can talk about books glibly and with enthusiasm and ease. My staff receives books, shelves books, pulls books, dusts books, rearranges books, and talks about books day in and day out, with each other, with customers, with other booksellers at other stores, on Goodreads, on Edelweiss, with vendors, with publisher reps. For the up to forty hours each week that they are at work, their world is books. That is what a bookseller is. I am but a dilettante who ...

Black History Month

 Reading isn't only for entertainment! Delve into some great books this month to engage with Black History Month. Recommended below are a wide range of books, from classics, like the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, to modern day historical fiction like The Underground Railroad,that will not only enthrall, but also educate and empower.

Meet Amanda Gorman


Meet Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history (she is 22). Since 2017, she has served the United States as the first ever National Youth Poet Laureate, but this morning, she was launched further into the public spotlight when she recited a poem during President Biden's inauguration ceremony. Gorman joins only 5 other poets ((including Maya Angelou and Robert Frost) to deliver an inaugural poem. Read excerpts of the other poems here: poets.org

Her poem, titled "The Hill We Climb," is a new poem she wrote with the intention to "speak to the moment" and "do this time justice".

Gorman does not yet have any published volumes of poetry available, but you can now pre-order either of her 2 forthcoming books slated for September 21, 2021.