Saturday, April 30, is Independent Bookstore Day. This national one-day of recognition takes place on the last Saturday in April and celebrates independent bookstores across the country online and in-store. We’ve interviewed two bookstores — Book Corner Tampa Bay and Tombolo Books — located on opposite sides of Tampa Bay and asked them a few questions about their store and why independent book stores are important for the community.
Book Corner Tampa Bay
The Book Corner is a professionally run, used & out-of-print hardcover bookstore with some 20000 books. Located at 728 West Lumsden Road in Brandon, Florida. We interviewed owner Michael Tennero.
Describe your bookstore in three words or less.
Bookstore for booklovers. We are in this business because we are nuts about books ourselves. We have our own collections. Getting that perfect fit between customer and book makes our day.
We jest in call ourselves the book adoption service. We joke with our clients, assuring they are going to be a good book parent. People love that.
Why are independent bookstores important in the age of Amazon?
Serendipity. Online bookstores can be very convenient, yet there is one thing they cannot ever do. By physically browsing the book isles someone can come across a book they never even knew existed. Something just right for their collection.
Or stumbling on a book they remember from their childhood and had all but forgotten about.
Tell us about your relationship with your local community.
We know our stock and we know our clientele. Having had an open shop in Brandon for 30 years, a great many of our customers are as much friends as shoppers. We know their taste; we know what new stock has come in that they might be interested in. We banter with them about almost anything while they are shopping. People love to talk.
We also raise money for one of the local no kill animal shelters. C.A.R.E., Inc. No Kill Clinic in Ruskin. We have been supporting them with donations for three decades.
Recent book you are recommending to everyone.
We are a used bookstore, so we do not deal with books that are hot at the moment. We can, however, show our customers books on a topic they are interested in, help them find authors or series that we think they are likely to want to read.
Tombolo Books
A locally owned, independent bookstore in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. The store features a curated selection of the best new fiction and nonfiction titles from around the world. Located at 2153 1st Ave S in St. Petersburg, Florida. We interviewed Emily (she/her), an employee at Tombolo.
Describe your bookstore in three words or less.
Welcoming, diverse, curated.
Why are independent bookstores important in the age of Amazon?
One of the many wonderful things about an independent bookstore is that our staff is always ready and willing to help a customer find their next great book. What Amazon lacks is a human connection. The algorithm might be able to suggest a few titles for you, but there is no one there to listen to what you have to say and turn that into a personalized recommendation. But when you come into our store, or any indie bookstore, you can ask anyone who is working to help you and we are ready to take all the time we need to find you a new book or two.
Our staff is so well read, and we cover such a wide variety of genres in our reading that we can help with anything a customer is looking for. We love books – our main goal is always to help a customer find a book they are going to love.
Tell us about your relationship with your local community.
Tombolo has a great relationship with the St. Pete community. We have such amazing customers who are so supportive of our store and what we do. Over the recent years, there has been this movement of supporting indie bookstores, and we feel that passion and love for our store every day. People come in all the time to shop with us rather than order through Amazon, or they come out in droves to our events to support local authors and their books.
We also often partner with local, independent organizations. We were recently at the Museum of Fine Arts’ Painting in the Park event with kids’ books and a DIY bookmark station. These events help strengthen our relationship with the community and allow us to engage with customers in new and accessible ways. It’s been wonderful to see the relationship we have with St. Pete grow each year.
Recent book you are recommending to everyone.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel is a book that I read at the start of this year, and it moved me more than a book has in a while. It’s beautifully written and filled with such empathy and heart; it’s a great book to read in the face of all the anti-LGBTQ movements that are going on. Another book I recommend to absolutely everyone is Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. He has a way of showing the best of humanity in his stories.
Any special events coming up at your bookstore?
We always have something coming up at our store! We have lots of exciting author events planned for the next few months. Two that we are really looking forward to are David Sanchez and Mary Kay Andrews. David is a Tampa based author, and he will be speaking with Florida author Kristen Arnett about his new book All Day is a Long Time. Mary Kay Andrews is launching her newest book, The Homewreckers, and it’s going to be a fun event!
Other local bookstores
Here are some other independent bookstores and used book stores in the Tampa Bay area:
- Book and Bottle. Books + Wine = Awesome. St.Pete
- Oxford Exchange. Gorgeous bookstore connected to awesome restaurant. Tampa
- Mojo Books & Records. Browse books and records and drink awesome coffee. Tampa
- Pressed LKLD. Read. Work. Chill. Repeat. Lakeland
- Wilson’s Book World. One of the oldest bookstores in Southeastern U.S St.Pete
- Back in the Day Books. classics and rare obscure books. Knowledgeable staff. Dunedin
- WAWG. Black Owned Bookstore for the community. Tampa
- Sam’s Books. THE used bookstore for book-loving kids. Oldsmar
