Tuesday, December 3, 2013

'Saved by the Book!' starts today to benefit St. Mark's Bookshop



St. Mark's Bookshop is holding a fundraiser to help them prepare for a move to a new location in the East Village, as Publishers Weekly first reported.

And here's information on the event via the St. Mark's Bookshop Facebook event page that we found:

We invite you to an Auction of Signed and Annotated First Editions to Benefit St. Mark's Bookshop

ONLINE AUCTION
Tuesday December 3 - Sunday December 15
LIVE EVENT
Thursday December 5 6-8 PM
$5 at the door

We are conducting an auction of over 50 rare signed and annotated first editions and ephemera from some of NYC’s best known writers. The auction will benefit St. Mark’s Bookshop, and help fund its upcoming move. Included are works from Yoko Ono, Anne Carson, Junot Diaz, John Ashbery, Patti Smith, Art Spiegelman, Walter Abish, Paul Auster, Bill Berkson, Charles Bernstein, Lydia Davis, Kenneth Goldsmith/Joan La Barbara, Richard Hell, Major Jackson, Wayne Koestenbaum, Phillip Lopate, Eileen Myles, Arthur Nersesian, E. Annie Proulx, Sam Shepard, Peter Straub, Lynne Tillman, Anne Waldman and Tsipi Keller.

Bidding begins December 3 online here

On Thursday Dec. 5, you are invited to come to the bookstore, where all the works will be on display for bidding and there will be a Live auction of selected works. If you can’t be present for the live event, you can leave an absentee bid online.

Join us and share wine and light refreshments.

The Bookshop is apparently moving to a new location near East Third Street and Avenue A (maybe here), though there hasn't been any information disclosed about this just yet...

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

To the owner(s) of this shop. Stop begging the neighborhood and your remaining customers to bail you out once again. Get someone with some business experience to advise you on how to improve your operation. Get someone to train your employees on customer relations and have them practice smiling, saying thank you and pretend to show some interest in everyone that enters the store. Wish you well but please get a clue.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the first post. I want to support St Marks Books but they make it very difficult. Just last month I visited looking for a book and I was told they had it listed in the inventory. But it was not on the shelf. The sales guy couldn't ex[lain it, except to say that books were regularly stolen from the shelves. He also said they can't afford to keep the shelves stocked. This is pathetic...

Why not take a clue from Printed Matter, Dashwood Books, PS1 Bookstore, Spoonbill and Sugartown, Blue Stockings, etc. and actually create something relevant., that people can relate to, and which reflects a point of view. There are certainly enough people in this neighborhood who love the types of books which St Marks Books supposedly champions, and for which they are known. What on Earth has happened to this former treasure?

Anonymous said...

I went to purchase a book last week at St Mark's Bookshop. The store was empty as usual. But nonetheless, the clerk made a face when I interrupted her reading to ask her to look up a book I was unable to locate on the shelves. I couldn't tell if her surly demeanor was caused by the interruption or because she didn't recognize the title I had asked for (recently well-reviewed in the NYT). But she then failed to offer to order it for me when it was not in stock. Lose-lose.

aveaisessex said...

Yeah, really think these guys are milking all local goodwill and even overestimating their relevance. They seem to be constantly asking for donations and even went so far as to try and procure basic services (marketing, PR, etc) on a pro bono basis.

We want you around, guys...but not that much.

Anonymous said...

I hate to admit it but I'm tired of seeing the same 'ol SOS. Get it together folks.

Anonymous said...

I care exactly as much as the staff care about the customers.

I would donut, I mean donate, to 7-11 before I gave this place another cent.


- East Villager

Anonymous said...

"Buy a Book!"

No.

- East Villager

Anonymous said...

I go to a book store to browse and buy interesting books, not to make friends with the staff. Surly staff can be annoying, but the store in its heyday offered a quality and unique selection that I valued in the community. Losing that is a real loss.

Anonymous said...

I went into St. Mark's the other day. 1) They didn't have the most recent copy of New Left Review, and 2) half the shelves were empty. If I worked there, I'd be looking to jump ship.

Anonymous said...

Unhappy with a struggling book store? Lets see how happy you will be when 7 Eleven or other similar use moves in.

Marjorie said...

Sorry to say I agree that St. Marks has to get its act together, and repeated bailouts aren't the way to do it. I'm a huge fan of McNally-Jackson: Enthusiastic, knowledgable and friendly staff, tons of quirky events and readings, alliances with NYU-expansion-fighting profs and neighbors, donations and offerings of their space to local public schools and school libraries, engendering loyalty. This is how you compete with Amazon: Be part of the community; use human beings and their knowledge and affinities to ensure repeat visits and browsing and fun. St Marks is flat-out an unpleasant place to shop. It's not fair to say "Hey, it's this or a 7-Eleven." A bookstore is not a non-profit -- give us compelling reasons to shop there besides "BECAUSE BOO CHAIN STORES." (Just got back from a visit to Books, Inc. in Alameda, CA -- part of a mini-chain of indie bookstores. SO MUCH AWESOME, as ever: super-lovely and smart staff, fun knick-knacks -- hey, they're a moneymaker-- book clubs, great author visits, perfect mix of high and low. It is part of a chain...and DUH I'd take it over St. Marks because it really feels like part of Alameda.) I don't want to lose St. Marks because I love bookstores. And I get why Amazon is a threat to publishing. But St. Marks peoples, you gotta talk to business experts and fellow indie bookstore owners about how to do better. And if you're too tired and bummed to put in that effort, hire an awesome manager and give him or her carte blanche, or look for a buyer who is willing to do the work of making the store a relevant and pleasurable place to be. Otherwise you're just delaying the inevitable.