Books

Books & Books is the one of the leading independent booksellers in America. Founded by Mitchell Kaplan in 1982, it has since expanded to eight locations, concentrated in the Miami area and also with branches in Grand Cayman and Westhampton Beach on Long Island, and now Key West. Mitchell has been honored in the industry with the Presidency of the American Booksellers Association and was named Independent Bookseller of the Year in 2015. Each Books&Books location has its own flavor, from the sprawling 10,000 sq. ft. main store in Coral Gables to a tiny shop on Concourse D in the Miami Airport. But each shares a commitment to a deep and rich selection of great books, fined tuned to the interests and reading habits of its local community. The Studios of Key West is a ten-year-old non-profit arts organization dedicated to enhancing and enriching the cultural life of the city. It provides low-cost studio space to local artists, a residency program for visiting artists, two galleries to display their work, a wide range of classes for both locals and visitors, and a diverse program of concerts, lectures and performances in a 200-seat auditorium. When it relocated last year to a new home in an iconic 15,000 sq. ft. former Masonic Temple, The Studios realized that its street-level space at the corner of Eaton and Simonton Streets would best used as a retail space. But it had to be something in keeping with its core cultural mission. The absence of a first-class bookstore in Key West weighed heavily. Key West is famed for many things, not least of which is a literary tradition developed by the cadre of renowned writers who worked amidst and were inspired by its palm shaded charms-Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, John Hersey, Robert Stone, Annie Dillard, and Anne Beattie, to name only a few. The annual Key West Literary Seminar is one of the premiere cultural events in the nation. What could be a more appropriate use of this wonderful corner space than to bring a home for books back ...