Ocean Vuong on the impact of bookstores

I had the honor last week of attending the opening keynote address of the American Booksellers Association's 20th Annual Winter Institute. World-renowned poet Ocean Vuong spoke for 40 minutes, but it felt like five. A master of language, this poet, novelist  and college professor over-delivered on a truly inspiring message that left barely a dry eye in a ballroom full of 1,200 booksellers.

Vuong told the audience, "My wish to become a writer was not born inside the halls of an institution, but in a public library, which led me to a bookstore, which has led me here to you.”

In a classroom, students are often told, “This is what you must read,” when referring to a pantheon of “great” classical literature. But in a bookstore or library, Vuong pointed out, people are asked, “What do you like to read?” This question often leads to a conversation that opens minds, eyes and hearts. And if we’re lucky, it builds community as well.

Vuong encouraged all of us in that ballroom not to think of our independent bookshops as just retail spaces, but to see our businesses as “engaging in the work of cultural legibility.” Independent bookstores offer people spaces to celebrate openness, creativity, options and safety. And, as Vuong told the audience, “As expensive as books can be, a hardcover being $30 is still cheaper than tuition.” Through our tears, booksellers laughed at that very valid point.