Book Patrol

Sean Doolittle: Independent Bookseller’s MVP

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Last April, Sean Doolittle, the closer for the World Champion Washington Nationals, started sharing on social media what he was reading and the independent bookstores he shopped at during each major league stop. Now, Doolittle has teamed up with the American Booksellers Association (ABA) to become 2020 Indie #BookstoreDay Ambassador. "I'm really looking forward to promoting these incredible local businesses that promote reading and literacy programs and authors and do so much to support their communities!" says Doolittle. Doolittle, you might recall, declined President Trump's invitation to the White House after the Nationals won the World Series because he didn't...

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Booksellers on Film: New documentary set for March release

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What once seemed like an esoteric world now seems essential to our culture: the community of rare book dealers and collectors who, in their love of the delicacy and tactility of books, are helping to keep the printed word alive - New York Film Festival D.W. Young's documentary, The Booksellers, on the antiquarian booksellers of New York, is destined to become a classic account of the modern day book trade. From the preview alone you know that if one possess the bookselling gene or if you have an affinity for the collectible it is a must see. It premiered at...

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The Oldest Golf Club Lands the Greatest Golf Book Collection

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Clubhouse at St. Andrews Founded in 1754 the R & A is the oldest golf club in the world. It plays host to the British Open every summer and is the top golf destination in the world. Now thanks to Scotland native Alastair Johnston it will be home to the greatest collection of golf books.  Alastair Johnston and his golf books Currently the library stands at 28,000 books with hundreds of new additions planned to be added every year. Aside  from his collecting, Johnston co-wrote with his father, The Chronicles of Golf , considered by many to be one of...

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Radiohead Public Library is now open

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They have been at it since 1985. By 2011 they had sold more than 30 million albums and last year they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. To celebrate this amazing run Radiohead has introduced their very own Radiohead Public Library. From the band's announcement: Radiohead.com has always been a) infuriatingly uninformative and b) surprising. The most surprising thing to do next, therefore, is to suddenly become incredibly informative. So that is what we have done. We present: the RADIOHEAD PUBLIC LIBRARY, an online resource containing videos, music, artwork, websites, merchandise, and assorted ephemera. Band members will take...

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The Bookseller “spurred me on”: The deeply troubling Carnegie Library theft

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One was the sole archivist for and head of the rare book room at the Carnegie Library. The other was an antiquarian bookseller and proprietor of Caliban Books. They both recently pleaded guilty for their part in one of the biggest library heists on record, stealing millions of dollars worth of material from the Carnegie library. For pretty much as long as they were at the helm of their respective workplaces Greg Priore and John Schulman were engaged in ongoing criminal activity. That's a whopping 25 years of deceit! Priore, the Carnegie Library archivist, says  ‘I should have never done...

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