Paperback Dreams

Nancy Rutland of Bookworks

An Interview with Nancy Rutland
Owner and Founder of Bookworks
Albuquerque, New Mexico

What’s the story of your bookstore? How did it start, how did you get involved, why do you keep doing it?
I opened Bookworks as a 600 sq. ft. store in a small strip center of locally owned businesses in 1984 because Albuquerque’s north valley did not have a bookstore and I thought that the community would embrace and support it. I have a BA & Masters in English and a passion for books. I always knew I would do something with books as a career. I had worked at a couple of bookstores in San Antonio between college and grad school and at the UNM bookstore & The Book Stop, a used bookshop, in Albuquerque before opening Bookworks. We’ve expanded 3 times in the same location, and the shop is now 3000 square feet with a small stage area and rolling bookcases on wheels for events, a kiva fireplace for chilly days, and Bookworks shares a foyer with the Flying Star Bakery Cafe, a fabulous locally owned restaurant. I do it because I love connecting people and books. We host about 150 events a year in and out of the store to bring books and people together.

How has bookstore culture in your city/town/neighborhood changed over the years? How have the interests of your readers changed? What has that meant for your store?
We’ve lost at least 23 bookstores in Albuquerque since I opened Bookworks. Amazon and the chains changed the bookselling landscape. But Amazon pays no taxes that go to our schools and libraries and will never bring an author to Albuquerque. My readers are much more interested in politics and current events than in the past, and I can try to bring in the books that reflect my community’s interests. Bookworks is a community bookstore in ways that a website or a chain store can never be.

Talk about free speech and bookselling. Talk about experiences where you’ve faced free speech issues in your stores.
I believe people should have total choice in what they read. The free exchange of ideas is at the heart of our bookstore. We will not act as a censor. When Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses was being pulled form some store shelves, we carried it. The same with American Psycho. I have even been challenged for carrying Martha Stewart Cookbooks and hosting an event for Martha at the store because her books are anti-feminist — though I admit that was a bit strange, and I am an ardent feminist. For years we posted the Reader’s Bill of Rights in our store which emphasizes privacy and the right to read whatever one chooses to read. I believe these two tenets are stated as “The Right To Read Anything” and “The Right Not To Have To Defend One’s Taste.”

Talk about your triumphs. What have been your proudest accomplishments as booksellers?
Connecting people and books—from the kid selecting his first book to hosting international idea shapers like Jared Diamond and Alice Walker and literary voices such as Alexander McCall Smith, Sherman Alexie and Junot Diaz at schools, libraries and public events. Helping an author, any good author, to be discovered. Maybe changing the world by providing that book that led to the change. Working with schools to create their libraries. Bringing authors to non-profit fundraising events. Providing a safe place for kids and adults to explore ideas. Acting as the filter to sort through the hundreds of thousands of books available, bringing the best and most relevant books to our community and the authors who write them when possible. Providing a great place to work for very talented, highly educated, underpaid staff because it is meaningful, important work.

Remind us why it matters. What is it that independent bookstores bring to the cultural landscape that is unique and that merits support? Independent Bookstores keep their communities interesting, alive and growing. We challenge them by exploring diverse opinions. We bring beauty and help them to find it. We discover new voices and shout about our discoveries. We keep it local. We bring it home. We know and love and are part of what keeps are communities unique. We are never boring.

AIBA (Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance, and one of the screening’s co-sponsors) has a slogan: Keep Albuquerque Quirky!