Rachel Pastiva knows firsthand the heart and soul required to run an independent book store. As a former manager for Crazy Wisdom Bookstore, she is also involved in the local book community and emphasizes the importance of shopping for books from local stores.
“Some of the independent bookstores in town, the owners are the ones standing behind the counter and so I just really wanted to promote our book culture,” Pastiva said.
In 2002, Pastiva moved to Ann Arbor to manage a former Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain, Borders. As a lifelong book lover, she was inspired to move because of the local book community. Since then, she has also served on the board of the former Ann Arbor Book Festival and founded the Ann Arbor Book Society.
“I feel like this is a town that, if you’re a book lover, you can make a weekend of it,” she said. “People see us as a football town, but I think we’re also a book town, that’s a part of our legacy. Borders started here, and I think people should be proud of books in this community, as well as our football team.”
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Over the past few years, local bookstores and events have shifted. Aunt Agatha’s, a mystery bookstore, and Kaleidoscope Books and Collectibles have both closed. Pastiva attributes this to a few factors including finding lower prices for books online as well as a decreased interest in reading physical books or reading books overall. As an attendee, she noted a decrease in publishers and booksellers involved in the Kerrytown BookFest, now known as the A2 Community Bookfest.
“One list I am always sad to see Ann Arbor at the top of is Amazon’s list of most well-read cities,” Pastiva said. “It’s often at the top of Amazon’s list because a lot of our residents buy their books on Amazon, despite Ann Arbor having far more local options to access books than most cities. But I bet those same people really appreciate the community-oriented city they live in. Our independent bookstores (and award-winning library system) are all about community and generate a lot of events to support and celebrate it, so when you support them, you are supporting your community.”
Since 2016, the Ann Arbor Book Society has focused on providing resources with details on where people can find books in the local community including bookstores, the library, and local resellers. This includes their work to print a physical map with this information, as well as digital resources about local author and book-related events and snapshots of past events.
Pastiva currently serves as the director of the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library, a used book reseller formerly housed in the Downtown AADL location. Now, FAADL can be found in Parkland Plaza, a larger location that allows them to sell more books and wares. As a nonprofit, the proceeds from FAADL go directly towards programming at the Ann Arbor District Libraries, including funding the prizes for the Ann Arbor District Library’s Summer Game.
“I think in Ann Arbor we have to really be proud of all of our options for places that we can get books, but we also can’t take them for granted because if we don’t support them, they’ll go away,” Pastiva said.
