A Philadelphia Bookstore Map was unveiled late last week at the Parkway Central Branch of the Free Library.
Locally illustrated and available for free, the map, which is more than 15 years in the making, is the brainchild of 1975 Cheltenham High School graduate Molly Russakoff, a third-generation bookseller who runs Molly’s Books & Records near Ninth Street and Washington Avenue in South Philly.
Artist Henry Crane has spent the past year illustrating 46 bookstore storefronts. As of now, there are 50,000 free maps available in libraries, bookstores, cafes, visitors’ centers and other hubs around the city.
Russakoff has long believed that a map could draw customers and attention to the city’s eclectic brick-and-mortar bookstores.
“Nobody’s going to be looking on the map [for] like, ‘How do I get there?’” Russakoff told Billy Penn. “We don’t need a map — but we need something positive. And we wanted to make it a piece of public art, rather than just a brochure that people will throw away. We want people to keep these.”
From Billy Penn’s article:
Russakoff first considered making a bookstore map in 2008 when local sellers were struggling to eke out a place in the market, she said, but never actually formalized a plan for it.
About a year and a half ago, she mentioned the idea to Crane, who suggested a painted map with storefronts. “Having somebody to work with,” Russakoff said, provided the motivation to actually resurrect the idea. Gina Dawson from Partners and Son and Curtis Kise from Neighborhood Books also agreed to help with the effort.
For additional coverage, you can read The Inquirer’s article here. For the Philadelphia Bookstore Map’s website, which includes details and high-resolution drawings of each store, you can click here.
For more on Molly’s Books & Records, you can visit her Facebook page and website.
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Photo and information partially provided by Chuck Langerman, local historian