by Steve Heller
How does one measure the success of an independent bookstore? One obvious criterion is size. The world’s largest independent bookstore, Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon, boasts more than a million titles, with a full city block’s worth of floorspace in which to peruse them. The Strand in New York City claims to house “18 miles of books” on its shelves.
Most notable independents are considerably smaller. City Lights in San Francisco, the USA’s first all-paperback bookstore, houses 34,000 books in 2,100 square feet. Its namesake, Prairie Lights in Iowa City, home of the Iowa Writers Workshop, occupied only half as much space when it opened in 1978. Since both smaller stores continue to flourish in an economy dominated by conglomerates and the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com, size clearly isn’t the only consideration.
Every indie bookstore owner I’ve spoken with has maintained there is one factor above all others that determines survival: the ability to connect with the community the store serves. No indie bookstore anywhere illustrates this principle more than the Raven in Lawrence, Kansas.
To know the Raven is to know Lawrence: its culture, politics, and history, all of which are reflected in the books on the shelves inside, as well as in the character of the patrons, employees, and co-owners who move through its aisles.
Politically, I think of the Lawrence of today as a bright blue dot on a blood red prairie. However, that flyover metaphor captures neither the sacrifices of its origin story in the period known as “Bleeding Kansas” (1854-61) and the American Civil War that followed, nor the significance of its endurance as a beacon for civil rights and social justice to this day. Lawrence is named after an abolitionist from Massachusetts, Amos A. Lawrence, who supported the settling of the town through the New England Emigrant Aid Company. The settlers became known as “Free-Staters” and Lawrence itself as the “Free State Fortress” to prevent the Territory of Kansas from being admitted to the Union as a slave state.
Although Lawrence has endured, the Fortress has never been impregnable, as tragically illustrated by the Lawrence Massacre of 1863 by the Confederate irregulars know as Quantrill’s Raiders, which took the lives of 150-200 men and boys. Nor has the Fortress been unassailable from within. Today, Massachusetts Street, the heart of downtown Lawrence, is often the site of protests and demonstrations, often against state and national policies on race, gender, or economic inequities. These are mostly unpopular with locals, but sometimes protests reflect divisions on these same issues within the community itself.
In the heart of the heart of the community, in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street, sits the Raven.
The Raven was founded in 1987 by Pat Kehde and Mary Lou Wright, who established its identity as an indie specializing in mystery novels. Over time, it became known as a general interest bookstore that included fiction, poetry, and history. The original location was on 7th Street between Massachusetts and New Hampshire Streets, in a small, crowded space next to Liberty Hall, around the corner from Free State Brewery. Once one of several independent bookstores downtown, in 1997 the Raven experienced what must have felt at the time like the ultimate existential challenge: Borders Books opened a store right across the street.
Former Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, a longtime Lawrence resident, explains how the book-buying community helped the Raven survive: “We were very nervous about Borders, which was a half block away, but many people like me used Borders to find books, then went to the Raven to order them. My three kids used Borders as a living room, hanging out there to read and get fancy sodas, then we ordered whatever books they loved at the Raven.”
What engendered this kind of loyalty? According to Mirriam-Goldberg, “What the Raven excels at – and has since ‘87 – is curating the right books for our community and our time along with supporting local authors. Since my first book came out in 2000, I could walk into the store, talk to whoever was working there at the time – sometimes nervously, hoping the store could host a reading – and find a welcoming response.”
Mirriam-Goldberg added: “The Raven survived also by being nimble, flexible, and innovative in its ownership. When Danny Caine, owner from 2017 – 2022, needed to move from the area, he brilliantly cooked up an employee ownership model that allowed the store to continue and flourish. Today, the Raven is owned by three people, all former employees who know the store and this community.”
In the end, the Raven (like Papillon) survived, while Borders (like Devil’s Island) did not. The entire corporation declared bankruptcy in 2011, having notoriously failed to adjust to changing public preferences, such as for digital content (streaming) over physical content (CDs and DVDs) for music and films. It also invested too heavily in large high-rent store properties. However, Border’s ultimate undoing was the way it adapted to e-commerce for books, outsourcing its online commerce to what has proven to be the most enduring threat to all indie bookstores everywhere: Amazon.com.
By the time the Raven moved to its current, larger-but-still-affordable location on Massachusetts Street in August 2021, the COVID pandemic had required not only expansion of e-commerce but innovation in the ways books could be delivered to customers with minimal in-person contact. By the time COVID faded, the new space gave the Raven more flexibility in terms of what it could offer the community, including the return of on-site literary events. In the meantime, many indie bookstores across the nation had closed while Amazon grew even more voracious.
Danny Caine (far right in the above group photo) is the owner who developed the strategy to successfully resist the most rapacious consumer of small businesses since Wal-Mart: educate the book-buying public about the true cost of tax-subsidized corporations such as Amazon, as well as the true value of face-to-face service in community-based bookstores such as the Raven. I could go on and on about this stance, but the best source on the subject is Caine himself. His article/became a viral e-zine/became a book/became a national anthem: How to Resist Amazon and Why: The Fight for Local Economies, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future:
The attention generated by the viral e-zine and popular book, along with Casey Cep’s profile in The New Yorker, preceded the Raven’s 2022 selection by Publisher’s Weekly as the Best Bookstore in the USA.
That same year, Caine sold his 51% interest in the Raven to three of the seven other previous co-owners/employees: Kelly Barth (back row, far left of the group photo), Chris Luxem, and Mary Walmeier Bracciano (front, second from left). Caine moved back to his native Cleveland, Ohio to take his struggle with corporate America to the next level, working for the Institute of Local Self-Reliance, an advocacy organization that supports local retailers against big-box stores and other corporations.
When I asked Chris Luxem how his own responsibilities have evolved since becoming a co-owner, he replied, “I started working at the Raven in 2014. I definitely understand the misconception that an owner is making all the decisions regarding the store, but as long as I have worked here it’s been an extremely collaborative experience. Heidi Raak was the owner when I was hired and she led the store with a forthrightness that started the mission of the Raven to be as inclusive as possible and equitable between booksellers and owner, allowing Danny Caine to purchase the store in 2017. Danny Caine made me and six other employees minority owners in 2021.”
Luxem went on to further stress the necessity of collaboration: “I definitely have learned a lot more about the backend aspects of the business. Kelly, Mary, and I all do different roles. I’m essentially the General Manager and Finances Manager. I do the accounting and also help a lot on the sales floor during the days to make sure everything is running smoothly. In terms of three people making decisions, we all have very different reading tastes and management styles, so we can help fill in the gaps when necessary and offer perspective to the other two that may not be as obvious for any number of reasons. We’ve continued the collaboration with booksellers because we know certain reading styles will help fill the gaps even more where we might not be in tune. For example, Romance and Romantsy (Romance+Fantasy) have been an ever-growing section in the store and continue to evolve thanks to dedicated Romance-reading booksellers.”
The Raven is known for hosting numerous readings, signings, lectures, and other literary events. Co-owner Kelly Barth, who has worked at the Raven for almost 30 years, says the biggest problem with in-store events is making sure the event features the right writer(s). “Big names are a good draw, of course,” Barth says, “but local authors are very important in terms of attracting an audience.”
Chris Luxem added: “Hosting visiting authors as well as local authors is essentially about continuing the community building that a space like ours can offer. We’ve had a litany of world-famous authors come through our doors as well as self-published one-time authors. All of their works have immense value to increase the visibility of the store, but also just love for literature. We get a lot of requests and much of the decision making is put to a group vote, but also some are just too good to pass up, or are very topical in terms of current events, or local interest. It’s nice to offer a lot of different types of events for the community because you never know what will resonate with people. We also sell at a lot of off-site events with authors at the Lawrence Public Library, Liberty Hall, Watkins Museum, Lied Center, even the Bowlus Fine Arts Center in Iola, KS have had us attend events as booksellers.”
Denise Low-Weso, another former Poet Laureate of Kansas, lived in Lawrence for decades and read at many events hosted by the Raven. Low-Weso, who has retired to the wine country of Sonoma County, California, still returns to Kansas for literary events at the Raven and other venues. “When my husband Tom Weso’s book, Good Seeds, came out, Restaurant 715 hosted a happy hour that featured recipes from his book. Afterwards, brushing crumbs from our mouths, we walked in a cold wind the entire block to The Raven for a lovely reading. And I launched a breakthrough book, Melange Block, there in 2014. I had friends each read a poem from it and then a poem of their own. There was a full house and I sold 50 books—of poetry!”
The Raven’s website states that the books sold in the store are “intentionally curated to represent voices that have long been under-represented, especially those in the queer community.” A casual visit to the store easily confirms that. Like all bookstores, shelf space at the Raven is limited. I asked Chris Luxem how he and his fellow co-owners and booksellers determine which books are placed on the shelves.
“Essentially,” Luxem replied, “we all have different reading tastes and also different cultural influences. I help curate a lot of the essay, music, philosophy, short stories, political science selections. Mary curates the entire Children’s section and also does the restock ordering for the entire store, so she has an idea of the books we need multiple copies of at all times. Kelly does the ordering for Adult titles that have yet to be released (Frontlist titles) but also specializes in Mysteries, Science, and Literary Fiction titles. We have a bookseller who is an art historian so she curates our art books. We have a science fiction specialist who helps curate both unreleased and classic Science Fiction titles for the store. I mentioned the Romance reader. We have a lot of folks on staff who love Fiction, which is our biggest section, so we all kind of add different choices to the fiction shelves over the months.”
In her record four years as Poet Laureate, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg gave readings and talks throughout the state. I asked her about the Raven’s reputation across Kansas:
“I’ve had the honor of connecting with many independent bookstores in Kansas, including Eighth Day Books in Wichita, Flint Hills Books in Council Grove, and Middle Ground Books in Emporia, and I’ve seen the evolution and continuation of these and other stores as centers of hospitality, literacy, and the transformative power of language – just like the Raven. The owners of some of these stores have shared with me that they find inspiration in and guidance from the Raven.”
Mission-driven, community-oriented, employee-owned and operated, the Raven serves as an exemplar for the most passionate advocates of literary culture, social justice, and freedom of expression.
The Raven Book Store is located at 809 Massachusetts Street, in Lawrence, KS 66049. Find the Raven at ravenbookstore.com.
Steve Heller is an award-winning novelist and short story writer and past President of The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). His latest novel, Return of the Ghost Killer, is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing on January 19, 2027. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas.
