Our mission is to host thoughtful and thought-provoking readings of merit that foster the intellectual life of the Brooklyn literary community that we are fortunate to serve.

 

Community Bookstore of Park Slope

 

143 Seventh Avenue
[between Carroll & Garfield Streets]

Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 783-3075

 

Capacity:  50

 

 

 

Who We Are: The Community Bookstore of Park Slope is one of the oldest surviving—and thriving—independent bookstores in New York City.  Known for our high standards, we pack over 15,000 lovingly selected titles in 2,000 square feet, for a maximally intelligent and fun inventory.  We are also known for our commitment to community, the borders of which are constantly expanding.  During our 37 year history, we have hosted dozens of dozens of readings, both in the store and offsite.  We have built up a local network of community organizations who assist in facilitating our readings, through both publicity and large event space.

 

Where We Are:  Park Slope, Brooklyn is a lively neighborhood which is home to many of the most respected writers in the country as well as a healthy portion of its most sophisticated and loyal readers. Add in venerable editors and publishers who make their homes here as well as the ever-growing number of exciting and ambitious small presses based here and you can see why Park Slope is commonly recognized as “the most literary neighborhood in NYC.”

 

Facilities:  Our backroom, formerly a café, boasts terra cotta floors, Persian carpets, and French doors which open onto a small lush garden with pond, waterfall and resident turtle.  We have basic kitchen facilities that permit for catering, excellent air-conditioning, an independent sound system and a DVD projector which can be hooked up to a laptop or a DVD player.  Forty to fifty people can be comfortably seated, and the use of our microphone and amplifier allow for standing room guests to overflow into the main part of the store and still hear clearly. We also use additional venues for larger events, and list of which follows.

 

Transportation:  The Bookstore is located in the heart of historic Park Slope, and easily accessible by Subway, Bus or Car Service.  Subways:  The B or Q at 7^th Avenue stop, the F at 7^th Avenue stop, the 2 or 3 at Grand Army Plaza.  Buses:  The B67 (stops on our block) and B69 are convenient. Car: While taxis are not yet plentiful, car services are, and a five minute wait, $20, and a 20 minute drive should get you to and then fro from Manhattan.

 

Publicity:  We currently send out weekly events updates to the over 1600 members of our e-mail list.  Events are posted in the window of the store (in the heart of the heart of Park Slope’s busiest retail strip), and have printed schedules available on the counter to take home.  Print Advertising:  Our events are listed in New York weeklies such as Time Out New York, The Village Voice and our own Park Slope Reader. Additionally, we send press releases to newspapers and relevant departments of local universities.  On Line:  Our events and doings are listed, followed, reported and promoted by the active Brooklyn blogging community, including Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Gowanus Lounge and Brownstoner.

 

Moving Forward:  After a change of ownership in 2001,  compounded by the intricate complications of running an independent bookstore in this post-9/11, internet shopping world, our fortunes have waxed and waned a bit over the past seven years, with our reading series along for the ride.  However, since a dramatic restructuring a year ago, the store is experiencing an unprecedented resurgence of financial and enthusiasm health.  (Perhaps you’ve seen the recent stories about us in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.)  We are excited to make the 2008-2009 Events Season our most successful yet. We have the excitement and energy to build a terrific series, and will put mountains of effort into making it great for everyone!

 

Some of our Fondest Memories: 

 

People Who Have Read at, or in Association with, Community Bookstore

 

      Author                                        Venue                                       Attendance

Chinua Achebe                         Brooklyn Public Library                        200   (sold out)

Tariq Ali (twice)                       In store and at BSEC                           200   (sold out)

Paul Auster (multiple)                BSEC most often                                  200   (sold out)

Jonathan Safron Foer                Beth Elohim and PS 107                       200   (sold out)

Dave Eggers                             Snooky’s Pub                                       250   (sold out)

Nathan Englander                     BSEC                                                  200   (sold out)

Nuruddin Farah (twice)             BSEC                                                  200   (sold out)

Eduardo Galeano                      Half King Restaurant                             150

Nikki Giovanni                         In Store                                                  60

Pete Hamill                               Berkeley Carroll School                        250   (sold out)

Kathryn Harrison (multiple)       In Store and Offsite                              150  

Nick Hornby                            Snooky’s Pub                                       200   (sold out)

Mark Doty                               In Store                                                  50   (sold out)

Siri Hustvedt (multiple)              BSEC and In Store                               175

Sebastian Junger                       PS 321                                                 500   (sold out)

Ryszard Kapuscinski                NY Center for the Humanities               150

Nicole Krauss                          Beth Elohim and PS 107                       200   (sold out)

Jhumpa Lahiri (twice)                Poly Prep lower school and PS 107      250   (sold out)

Jonathan Lethem (multiple)        In Store and PS 107                             200   (sold out)

Ian McEwan                             Old First Church                                   500

Toni Morrison                          Old First Church                                 1000   (sold out)

Cynthia Ozick                           In Store                                                  30

Oliver Sacks                             Berkeley Carroll School                        200   (sold out)

Edward Said                            Long Island University                          150

Gary Shteyngart                        PS 107                                                 200   (sold out)

Dalia Sofer                               In Store                                                  50

Robert Thurman                       Berkeley Carroll School                        200

Derek Walcott                          Long Island University                          150

A. B. Yehoshua                        Congregation Beth Elohim                     250   (sold out)

Howard Zinn                            Old First Church                                   800

                                               

 

Alternative Venues

 

Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture (BSEC)

 

53 Prospect Park W
[between 1^st & 2^nd Streets]

Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 768-2972

 

Capacity:  200

 

Located two Avenues and one block from the Bookstore on Prospect Park West, this venue also has a small (and beautiful) sunroom available for after-event receptions, as well as a beautiful upstairs library where (for example) author Nathan Englander met with a bookstore-sponsored bookgroup before his public reading.

 

 

 This superb mansion, built in 1900, is one of the best examples of the rare neo-Jacobean style in New York City on the grand avenue of residences once known as “The Gold Coast.”  The mansion, which also is home to the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture since 1947 has overlooked magnificent Prospect Park in the residential area of Park Slope, Brooklyn and has the largest private garden in the City. 

Old First Church

 

126 7th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 638-8300

 

Capacity: 1000 (main Sanctuary) or 250 (meeting room)

 

Located one block away from the Bookstore on Seventh Avenue, Old First hosted our Toni Morrison, Howard Zinn, Ian McEwan and Cornel West readings.

 

 

 

Old First Reformed Church has an historic Gothic Revival sanctuary, decorated in the Arts-and-Crafts style, with great expanses of stained glass, a three-manual pipe organ, a Steinway grand piano, and the beautiful feel of a sacred space. It has a grand entrance on Seventh Avenue.  We welcome and encourage the public to use our sanctuary for public meetings, readings, lectures, cultural events, and the like. Acoustics in the sanctuary are excellent, making Old First a favorite venue for many orchestras, music groups, choirs and recitals.

 

 

Congregation Beth Elohim

 

274 Garfield Place
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 768-3814

 

Capacity: 1200 (main Sanctuary) or 250 (meeting room)

 

Located one avenue block away from the Bookstore on Eighth Avenue, landmarked Beth Elohim hosted our A.B. Yehoshua, Benny Morris, Paul Auster and Jonathan Safron Foer joint readings, and was also a central location in Pete Hammill’s August Snow.

 

 

 

 

The Main Sanctuary Temple building was built in 1909.  It seats approximately 1200 people and is a unique, one of a kind, sanctuary.  The Temple House building was completed in September of 1929. It was a state of the art six story building. In the Temple House were a 125 seat chapel, social halls, a major ballroom, meeting rooms, administrative offices, a library, class rooms for the Religious School, handball courts, a swimming pool and gymnasium.