 | |
| Company type | Book store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Owners | Gretchen Treu, Wes Lukes, Patrick Rothfuss |
| Website | www |
A Room of One's Own is an independent bookstore located at 2717 Atwood Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin. The store was founded in 1975 [1] as a feminist bookstore and was named after Virginia Woolf's 1929 essay of the same name. A Room of One's Own carries a broad selection of books, with a focus on works by women and non-binary people and the LGBT community.
A Room of One's Own specializes in areas such as feminism and gender studies, providing literature for, by and about women, non-binary people, and queer people. [2] [3] With a move to a larger space in 2011, the bookstore broadened its offerings, providing more selection in fiction, children's books, and local history. [4] The store carries around 200,000 titles, with annual sales over one million dollars. [5]
Featuring a robust schedule of author talks and book readings, the store also offers free space for community meetings and events. [3] [6] A Room of One's Own partners with organizations such as the Wisconsin Book Festival. [7]
A Room of One's Own was started in 1975 by a group of five women who had recently finished their degrees at the University of Wisconsin: Sandi Torkildson, Moe Doe, Susan Ketchum, Gail Straw, and Sally Stevens. [2] They raised $5,000 to build the store and gathered support from other feminist bookstores in the U.S. [2] The original location was an old printing office at 317 West Johnson Street. [4] In 1997 the store moved two doors down to 307 West Johnson Street; [5] in 2011 the store relocated to 315 West Gorham Street, moving into the 6,000 square foot space formerly housing Avol's Books (and, prior to that, Canterbury Books). [4] [5]
Owners Sandi Torkildson and Nancy Geary put A Room of One's Own up for sale in June 2016, and in June 2018 they announced the store would be purchased by three partners: two employees, Gretchen Treu and Wes Lukes, as well as fantasy novelist Patrick Rothfuss. [5] [8]
The #BookstoresAgainstBorders campaign was organized by the owners and staff of A Room of One's Own, donating part of their July 2019 sales to nonprofit organization Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, supporting legal services for immigrants. [9] More than 90 bookstores and publishers across the United States participated in the fundraising campaign. [10] A Room of One's Own was one of the downtown Madison businesses that released statements supporting the protests following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. [11]
A Room of One's Own was closed for fifteen months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but continued hosting online events and increased its online orders. [8] In October 2021, the bookstore reopened in a new location, 2717 Atwood Avenue. [12]