Name: BookCourt

Date Opened: 1981

Location: POINT (-73.9928126202775616 40.6886436209290707)

Address: 163 Court St., Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.bookcourt.org/

Exterior:

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Image Source: Editions, Europa. Bookcourt (Court street, Cobble Hill)... 2011. Web. http://www.flickr.com/photos/europaeditions/5716419813/.

Additional Information: 1984 - Owners Zook and Gannett, husband and wife at the time, bought the store's building for $160,000 and moved the family into the duplex about the store. 1996 - The couple spent $700,000 to acquire and expand into the building next door at 161 Court Street. 2005- Son Zack Zook becomes general manager and event planner at age 20. 2008 - The store began a renovation to nearly double in size, from 1,800 to 3,500 sq. ft. 2010 - Zack Zook creates biannual literary magazine Cousin Corinne's Reminder in partnership with the store to publish Brooklyn authors, poets and photographers. Excerpt from interview with Zack Zook in South Brooklyn Post:

“We like to think one of the faces of BookCourt is buying books that we believe in. So, if you see a big stack of stuff that you think is amazing but haven’t heard of, then we’re doing our job . . . I kind of hope that BookCourt inspires other booksellers to do similar things and help this culture that is so deprived. Of course that all depends on whether you can pay your rent and so on, but I think all the long-standing booksellers in this country are inspiring to us. And I hope we can inspire them and see new stores open up because they really are needed.”

Type of Books: New — General-interest with strong selection of non-fiction and fiction, emphasis on local authors, large selection of children’s books

Owner(s): Henry Zook and Mary Gannett

Associated Authors and/or Patrons: Jonathan Ames, Jonathan Lethem, Emma Straub

Community functions: readings, author Q&As, fundraisers for local schools, events sponsored by independent publishing houses, performances