Brookline's premier independent bookstore & more since 1961.
Paperback Booksmith (the original name of the store) opened its doors in Coolidge Corner, Brookline in November 1961. It was one of only 3 paperbacks-only bookstores in the country, heralding what was then called The Paperback Revolution. Until then, paperbacks had been a nominal part of a bookstore's sales. Within a few years they would be the dominant product line. Over time, the store became a "general" bookstore, adding hardcovers, remainders, and used books - and the name was changed to Brookline Booksmith. In recent years, learning products were introduced along with sophisticated gifts and greeting cards. There is a "Brain Fitness Center" and a "Fine Arts Center". We have developed one of the best Author Event Series in the country with authors requesting the opportunity to appear in Brookline. And the store has moved into the digital world with ebooks, online shopping, a social networking presence, and an email newsletter. It has become a major cultural center for Brookline.
It's always fun to come in here and if you have five minutes it's fun, if you have two hours to shop it's fun. I end up getting a lot of wonderful cards and gifts here for my family so if people say where do you get that I'll be It's meant to be a terrific community bookstore with a great selection and a lot of great events and sort of a one-stop shopping experience. And the store also has a lot of sort of funkiness and personality going back through the 45 years but also it's very current at the same time. It's a nice working environment. Everyone's doing their jobs but there's a sense of community within the store. It's not significantly changed over the years and I think it's nice that they're friendly to people with dogs as well and they have a little newsletter they send out and they'll like bring your dog into the store and they'll have sleepovers for kids here and author readings and Except the last eight years we won the best of Boston because of the style and personality of the store, the selection, the quality of our event series is just superb. The card and gift room that has gifts everything from ten cents to a hundred dollars and the whole package of what we offer gets the attention of the best of Boston committee. Well I'mostly here in the back room and it's fine for me. I can get a little loud, a little crowded. The Barnes & Noble a block away opened and at the same time eight other stores within a three mile radius, big box stores as they're called, opened and we just had to really look at what we do, why we do it, how we do it and make sure that were targeting our customers, giving them everything they wanted. We added the event series, we have a website, we have an email newsletter, we have the card and gift room, we have the used bookstore and basically to stay very involved in the community as well and not be just a place to buy books because you can buy books just about anywhere now but to offer just a terrific experience, what we want every customer to have a better than expected experience. People will pop their head in the back door, ask me if we have this, if we have that, occasionally ask for recommendation and as far as I know someone in a comparable position at a different store may not have that kind of information, it would just be shipping or receiving but we're expected to have some knowledge about the books. An independent bookstore has a much nicer feel, it's an older feel, it's not like they're going into some Walmart to get a book, they're going into some place where books is the n I think the location plays a big part because after 40 plus years we're pretty much a neighborhood and it's institution, just the fact that we're still here and not doing badly with a Barnes Noble right down the street. I think we'll always have a home here and this neighborhood will still have a great commercial area with a lot of interest and character. I feel bad if I shop anywhere else for books really,
