St. Mark's Books Auction

St. Mark's Bookshop is having a "Saved By the Book" auction to help benefit the store as it prepares to move to a new location. With signed rare and first editions from authors like Patti Smith, Paul Auster, Richard Hell, John Ashbery, and many more, the auction has begun online. It will also be happening live in the store, tomorrow night from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (There will be wine.)

Keep this great bookshop at home in the East Village. Click here for a full list of available items up for bidding.



I asked the bookshop's co-owner Terry McCoy a few questions about the auction and the future of the store:

Q: What do you think is the value of a signed, physical book in our digital age?

A: I think the value might be increasing, and will continue to increase, as people begin to feel the physical book is threatened. Look at the market in vinyl records. They are more obsolete than books are going to be for a long while, and they're trading for a lot of money among collectors. But I think books go beyond just "collectorism." Something special that's been signed by a writer you love can mean a lot.

Q: What can you tell us about the upcoming move? What are you hoping for?

A: "Hope" is the key word. We've looked at places we've liked for the last couple of years, but haven't closed the deal. We want to move by spring, we expect to be further east into the East Village, and we will have a smaller store.

Q: I understand you're putting together a community advisory board for the store. That's a great idea. What kind of input are you looking for from the community?

A: The advisory board idea is part of a general plan going forward to pursue a partially not-for-profit agenda which features community related projects. Everybody has been pretty much consumed with the here-and-now and being able to secure a future for the store, but that's going to be what we'll be aiming at if we succeed in relocating. So that's down the road a bit.

Q: Any added surprises at the in-store auction event? Guest appearances?

A: Some of the writers might drop by, but I can't make any promises. We are adding books every day, so, as of now, we have a few more to enter into the online site.

The auction site is up now. You can see some of the titles and what our "reserve" is. One of the values of the live, in-store auction is that people will be able to see the physical books that are part of the online auction. Our staff will be handling them, but they will show people anything they're interested in. Some books will be available to be bid on and won during the live auction. And there will be refreshments.



Read the story of St. Mark's fight to survive:
St. Mark's Success
Michael Moore at St. Mark's
Columbia's Precedent
An Open Letter to Cooper Union
Buy A Book Weekend at St. Mark's
Xmas in September
St. Mark's Vestibule