In an exploration of Ann Arbor’s robust and diverse literary scene, The Michigan Daily’s Business beat spoke with seven downtown bookstores. Each article in ‘The literary culture of downtown Ann Arbor’ project aims to capture each store’s unique offerings and contribution to the community. Read the other articles here.
In the heart of Kerrytown lies a bookstore that sells rare and used books with an emphasis on history books: Motte & Bailey Booksellers. Among the bookstores in Ann Arbor, Motte & Bailey is one of the oldest, opened more than two decades ago by bookseller and former University of Michigan librarian Gene Alloway.
Stepping into the bookstore, the space opens up to a massive collection of books aligned with posters, figurines and decorations, capturing Alloway’s unique admiration for history. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Alloway said the store’s decor themes serve as an aesthetic feature and functions as a directory for the different subjects.
“I tell people that bookstores are half museums, half libraries and half retail,” Alloway said. “So part of it is just entertainment, giving somebody something to look at. There’s an English poster over there and underneath that it’s (a pile of books on) England. It’s just helpful to point out when people are looking for stuff.”
Even before the store location opened in 2000, Alloway said the book culture presence in Ann Arbor was strong due to the sheer number of scholars, publishers, writers and printers in the city. He mentioned examples like Borders and Little Professors as bookstores that originated in Ann Arbor and added to the deeply-rooted book presence.
“You had this perfect storm of publishers, writers and printers,” Alloway said. “Some of these things like Little Professors were all in the area, so it was really unique and really focused the book culture here. Ann Arbor is still a stop for other book scholars to come through here to look for books.”
Organizations such as the Ann Arbor Book Society work to broaden access and appreciation to books today. In an email to The Daily, Rachel Pastiva, president of Ann Arbor Book Society, wrote having the owner readily available for customers is an uncommon presence in modern bookstores that is appreciated at Motte & Bailey.
“What makes Motte & Bailey unique is the breadth and depth of its inventory in history,” Pastiva wrote. “While it does offer other subjects of interest to many readers, history lovers can feel confident when they enter Motte & Bailey that their access to carefully selected history books is unparalleled in any other bookstore in Ann Arbor. You really feel that you are being offered books by a true expert.”
Alloway told The Daily Motte & Bailey’s specialty in history is not the only unique aspect about the store. His background and experience also contributes to the character that sets the store apart from other Ann Arbor bookstores.
“I worked as a librarian, I worked at Borders and I worked in the shop and online exclusively,” Alloway said. “So I’ve basically sold books in just about every venue you can sell books. … What I’m interested in is, ‘What is the best book on the subject,’ or almost the best book. So if there’s a book on the history of England, what is the best history of England and why? And that’s the librarian sort of coming out of me.”
Amid the growing community of avid readers, the University has book clubs such as Wolvereads, which aims to make reading a more social activity. LSA senior Francesca Courtney, Wolvereads president, said in an interview with The Daily that bookstores like Motte & Bailey are important in a city like Ann Arbor because they connect individuals and introduce reading into someone’s life.
“(Bookstores are) places where anyone can feel welcomed and included, no matter their reading levels or preferences because bookstores have something for everyone,” Courtney said. “Just like Wolvereads works to make reading more social and less of a solitary hobby, I believe bookstores have a similar goal of connecting people and making them feel like they’re part of a larger community.”
Pastiva concluded with a reminder on the importance of celebrating the distinctive book culture and bookstores in Ann Arbor.
“We have nine independent bookstores that each offer something to our community that only they can, and we should not be taking them for granted,” Pastiva wrote. “Ann Arbor is a book town, and that’s something we should all take pride in. When you support your local independent bookstores you support your local community.”
Daily Staff Reporter Kaelyn Sourya can be reached at ksourya@umich.edu.
