Bookplate Bookstore Optimistic, Expands

 

That bookstores have even survived the recession and the tectonic shifts of the ever-changing publishing world—would you like paper or pixels?—is miraculous enough. For a bookstore to expand its business is flat-out inspiring. And that’s happening here, at the Bookplate Bookstore.

Aside from the thousands of books he offers in all genres from general fiction to regional history, Tom Martin’s Bookplate has been a kiosk and hub for Chestertown’s many literary events. Who can forget the night the town lost power during Chestertown Book Festival guest speaker Michael Durda’s talk, and how his narrative continued unabated, like a literary séance lit by flashlights and flickering candles?

From Pulitzer Prize authors to Harry Potter Festival witches and muggles, poets, Random House editors, and jazz saxophonists, the Bookplate continues to be a vital part of the downtown retail and cultural community, and continually offers its back room as a space to share literary and other arts events.

Martin recently added to the Bookplate by re-acquiring the shop space next door to his current location, a move he finds satisfyingly ironic. “I started out there and moved here about a year later in 2005. I always liked the original spot, the long corridor to the back rooms offering more space to hang art and line with bookshelves,” he says. He’ll need them, he says, as he contemplates the hundreds of boxes of estate books in storage.

If you are familiar with the Bookplate, you know you’re always going to find more than books. Ceramics (yes, the plate part of Bookplate) from Portugal and Spain brighten many of the shelves in the expanded section, and Spanish olive oil is still a popular item. Martin also likes to support local endeavors, pointing out a shelf of Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr’s exquisitely zany Idiot Books. Just wander through the wonderful maze of shelves and be surprised.

He also finds talented employees.

“Each of my employees throughout the years have contributed something long lasting to the store. Jordon Cannon recently painted a wonderful mural in the children’s book section and has created brilliant paper constructions to suspend from the ceiling.”

And you never know who’s going to walk through the door. Recently, author, J. E. Thompson stopped by during a visit to Chestertown. His two books, Girl from  Felony Bay and Disappearance at Hangman’s Bluff, are both award winners in many Young Adult categories. Reading Lolita in Tehran author Azar Nafis spent hours visiting the Bookplate during her Washington College visit. On another day, National Music Fesitival saxophonists practiced for a local performance.

Martin is also excited about what he considers to be a sea-change happening in Chestertown.

“A lot of this expansion has to do with my commitment to the town and what I sense as a real change taking place. With Erin and her family taking over Twigs and Teacups, the recent standing room only gala showing of Red Devil Moon at the Garfield indicating the power of the arts, a new town website, and a Downrigging Weekend that couldn’t be stifled by bad weather—we’re seeing a lot happening and I like contributing to it.”

Martin hopes to have the addition open during Thanksgiving week and invites everyone to stop by to take a look. Plus, he notes, “what an easy way to have some fun while holiday shopping. Come in and let me show you around.”

 

The Bookplate is at 112 S.Cross St. —Phone:(410) 778-4167—Hours: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm