For those who like to sit down for an evening and crack a book,
even if it¹s just once in a while, the 7th Annual Sonoma County
Book Festival scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, at Santa Rosa¹s Old
Courthouse Square, is the place to be.
³It¹s going to be really great,² promises festival organizer
Maureen Jennings, ³We¹ve got some great authors, both local and not
so local, lined up this year. We¹re expecting everyone who is
interested in the world of literature and books to have a really
good time.²
Hours for the free event, which will be held in a sprawling tent
city, are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition to the booths and exhibits at the Square at Fourth
and Mendocino, other venues will include the Forum Room of the
Sonoma County Library at 3rd and E streets and the Arts Council
Gallery, 559 5th St.
Jennings called the festival, put on by the Literary Arts Guild
and which features more than 60 exhibitors, including independent
booksellers, small press publishers, authors, poets and a series of
panels on subjects ranging from immigration, nature, fine food and
publishing to writing, an annual literary touchstone for area
readers.
³Some of our featured authors include noted nature writer
Michael Pollan (³The Botany of Desire,² ³The Omnivore¹s Dilemma²),
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carolyn Kizer, mystery writer Marcia
Muller and poet Brian Turner,² Jennings said.
Other featured writers, journalists and small press publishers
include local columnists Sara Peyton, Susan Swartz and Gaye
LeBaron, as well as Gerald Haslam, Barbara Baer, J.J. Wilson, Mimi
Luebbermann, Susan Bono, Brother Tolbert McCarroll, Joan Frank,
James Dalessandro and Sarah Andrews.
³We are the only general interest book fair in Northern
California this year,² said Jennings. ³This year we seem to have
attracted richer programs that will reach out to all parts of the
community.²
Jennings added that one crucial literary element the festival
provides is an important forum for are the area¹s independent
booksellers, including Guerneville¹s River Reader, Copperfield¹s
Books in various North Bay locations, Healdsburg¹s Toyon Books,
Cotati¹s North Light Bookstore and Café and Readers¹ Books in
Sonoma, among others.
³The independents are particularly important because they are
part of the community and the owners live in the community,² she
said. ³There is already too much control over publishing by major
chains. The sort of marketing they do definitely has decreased the
number and range of titles offered to the public. It is the
independent bookseller who supports a wide range of voices and
major points of view.²
Martha Dwyer, who founded Toyon Books 20 years ago this year,
and started Running Wolf Press about eight years ago with her
husband, Chip Wendt, fully agrees.
³I started Toyon because at that time Healdsburg did not have a
real bookstore,² she said. ³I had been taught by my family and our
culture that the most satisfying work comes from helping others and
a bookstore is a real asset to a community, it is like a library ‹
a place of ideas and knowledge, not just fashions, fruits or
flowers.²
Dwyer added that independent businesses, including bookstores,
give back to the community in ways Internet or even giant, chain
stores don¹t.
³When someone shops at Amazon,² she said, ³even though it¹s
hugely convenient and sometimes cheaper, we can be quite certain
that they are not donating to the local hospital, Boy¹s &
Girl¹s Clubs, Rotary Club, nursery schools and other local
groups.²
She added that the relationship between local, independent
bookstores and their customers is a reciprocal one.
³Toyon Books and other independent bookstores are an endangered
species,² Dwyer added, ³As people learn to take responsibility for
their buying habits, our chances of survival increase. We rely on
the many good-hearted people of this community who know that the
convenience of online shopping has to be balanced with the desire
to have a local bookstore.²
According to Jim Walters, Toyon¹s store manager, local knowledge
can go a long way to satisfy and enhance local appetites for good
literature.
³We are willing to represent titles that aren¹t blockbusters,²
he said. ³Big titles are easier to move and so influence what gets
published. We have books that don¹t always sell out but we provide
them because we love them. We are also on the lookout for books we
know our customers will like. That¹s the special touch a local
independent bookseller.²
Barbara Iannoli, co-owner with Caroline Clare, of North Light
Bookstore and Café in Cotati, says local, independent bookstores
are very much an important part of those communities that support
them.
³They are a community gathering place,² she said. ³It¹s scary
the way the big chains are throwing art into the hands of American
corporations. Bookstores should be a place of information, not just
a dead place to sell best sellers. Right after 9-11 it was amazing
how people came here to talk about books and get away from the
horror.²
Like Walter, Iannoli said local booksellers constantly keep
their customers¹ literary tastes uppermost in their minds.
³Our readers will come in and ask us what they should read,² she
said. ³We know all of the books in the store and can tell them what
we feel they would really enjoy in really good fiction, poetry or
in spiritual guidance.²
As far as the festival goes, Toyon founder Dwyer said she sees
the event primarily as a celebration.
³People who love books get together to see and hear each other
and look at a bunch of books. Having a big celebration like this
hopefully raises the awareness that there is a difference between
local independent bookstores and nationwide chains.²
Festival organizer Jennings says not only is the Sonoma County
Book Festival growing in terms of exhibitors who have not only
increased their level of support, such as KRSH Radio, but that the
appearance of new ³big name² sponsors such as Target and O¹Reilly
Media, Inc., in addition to familiar organizations such as the
Northern California Booksellers Association, is an encouraging
trend.
³This level of corporate sponsorship is putting us on the map,²
she said. ³It¹s a recognition of the growing scope of our programs
and what it is giving to the community.²
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