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| Hearsay: |
As part of The Scream Literary Festival taking place in Toronto this month, a walking tour was organized this past Saturday that visited the final resting places of indie bookstores in good ol’ T.O. I would have gone except that I was busy drinking School’s most excellent mojitos and checking out a lot of god-awful brown loft furniture.
Highlights included David Mirvish Books on Markham Street, The Book Cellar on Yorkville Avenue and Tyrrel’s on Yonge. Cause of death? May or may not have been The Chain (side note: I wish I could remember a time without said Chain, it’s a dim reflection, I just remember living in Nova Scotia and bat-shit happy that Chapters was coming to Bayer’s Lake because that would mean we’d finally get that bastion of civilization named Starbucks. Not that I didn’t dearly love Woozles).
I’d like to give my own shout out to my favorite deceased indie bookseller – This Ain’t the Rosedale Library. This Ain’t didn’t actually die, it just went into the witness protection program by relocating to Kensington Market. That said, I just don’t think you can take a gay institution like This Ain’t and relocate it to hippie central and say that it’s still alive and well.
The real issue here, though, is that This Ain’t was the one cultural stop on a block full of bars with terrible food and underwear stores. I love Church’s sex appeal but I’d like to think the old broad has more to offer. This Ain’t had a smart selection of magazines and a carefully curated collection of books with a selection of GBLT offerings you wouldn’t find elsewhere.
This is just my personal example of how an independent bookseller is an integral part of the culture, not to mention the heart, of a community, one that is sorely missed not only by Church but also, I’m sure, by the neighborhoods highlighted in The Scream’s walking tour.
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July 7th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I’m not sure your assessment of This Ain’t is Fair, as I don’t think their move was a real choice. They came across some better space in a part of town with more book-buying foot traffic and still do a lot for certainly the literary community – readings, launches, concerts – as much as they did before and are still a gay-positive store. I agree with what you’re saying, it was in a good location and added value and culture to Church Street, but it was move or die for them, and better they be around somewhere than not at all.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:48 am
This is not the first time the shop has moved. I remember it back in the 80s on Queen St. I don’t remember exactly where, though.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
The guy who used to work at This Ain’t the Rosedale now sells books out of a space two floors above the old store (now a cheese shop). He doesn’t have set hours/days of operation, but you’ll see the sandwich board on the sidewalk when he’s open for business. Lots of old, rare finds.
Those of us in the Village also lost the Book City at Yonge/Charles within the last two years. There’s still Eliot’s—for now.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
There were chains long before Chapters came onto the picture. W. H. Smith and Coles, and I think Classics, too, were around as far back as the 1960s.
As for This Ain’t, it was down around Queen and Church, sharing an entrance with a real cool record shop. The new location in the Market — they’ve done beautiful things with the small space they have, and they are more supportive than ever of the lit community. Presumably in hopes that the lit community will return the favour. It’s been my favourite store, in all its incarnations, since the late 1970s.
Stuart
July 7th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I like bookstores. I hope the Indie’s come back.