It's not easy...

...to name a "best" bookstore in a town like Boston. Not when you have the likes of Harvard Bookstore, Porter Square Books, the New England Book Fair, Village Books and Newtonville Books, to name a few. But this year, once again, Brookline Booksmith was the winner!!!

If you've never worked in a bookstore, you probably haven't given much thought to the details. You may not realize that the profit margin is small, the competition is fierce, the hours are long. It's retail! In, say, the GAP, you have t-shirts, sweaters, pants and a few accessories. Most anybody with an eye for color can help you, right? But how many times have you gone in and come out annoyed with the "help" you got from the hired hands? First you have to find one who's not talking to a colleague or trying to look busy enough that they can ignore you. If you do corral someone, what you get in reply to your questions is oftentimes, a kind of way off look and a finger pointing in the direction of the newest pile of (albeit nicely) folded shirts. Ach, Gott!

When you go into the Booksmith, however, you're going to find a whole store full of book-loving clerks, who take pride and joy in helping you find the book you want. Customers walk in there knowing one word of a title, the color of the cover or that they heard/read about it somewhere three weeks ago...and they walk out with that book, thanks to people who know their business.

But books aren't the only thing people go to the Booksmith for. They go for the events, they go for the funny and unusual things they'll find in the Card & Gift Room, they go because it's a neighborhood haven where they can meet their friends, or sit are read. They go because their dogs are welcomed with treats and smiles. They go because of the clever signage, the creaky wooden floors, the way the books make the place smell. They go because they're getting married, they want to know how to fix their computer, they need a new diet, they have a thing for science fiction novels, they're going to take the MCATs, they're planning a trip or they're depressed. I think that working in a bookstore is a very intimate occupation...you get to glimpse a lot of the private lives of customers by what they buy. It's a trust.

So why did the Booksmith win this year? Well, there's no question that it has everything a bookstore should have (see above). And no one can deny that Marshall Smith, the founder of the store, had a great idea when he started the Paperback Booksmith all those years ago. But I think that the driving force behind the store--the real heart and soul of Brookline Booksmith--is it's manager and part owner, Dana Brigham. Dana is one of the most warm, generous, nurturing, liberal and tolerant women I know, and without her spirit, I don't think the store would be the one we all know and love.

Congratulations, you all!

~Fischlipps