Browsing: Profiles in Bookselling

Creating a space for stories.

If you’re idealistic about what a book is—a piece of culture that can change your mind, your heart, and the trajectory of your life—you may also have a semi-devotional idea of what a bookstore is.

I walk into Librairie St. Henri on a bright, snowy February day.

Classes, conversations, and readings are the lifeblood of Toronto’s poetry-only bookshop.

Though it has strayed from its 1940s communist roots, Vancouver’s Co-op Books still prides itself on its progressive, left-leaning approach.

At Calgary’s Pages Books, Gaiman, Murakami, and Cusk make happy bedfellows with Canadian independent presses and 6 translations of Madame Bovary.

Since 1972, eclecticism and discoverability have been key to the success of Duncan, BC’s sole independent bookstore.