Sunday, September 16, 2012

Powell's City of Books

No plants today. Didn't even go into the greenhouse other than to turn on the exhaust fans. After going to church this morning we went downtown and spent the afternoon at Powell's - drinking lattes and browsing books (cactus books, of course). I know, the picture above doesn't really look like much, but this is the old entrance and it's a little deceptive. Described by most as the world's largest new and used bookstore, I don't have any doubts. It takes up a whole city block (+ technical books across the street). It's so large, you need a map to find your way through it. And it's one of the largest tourist attractions in Portland. Here's their own description:
"Located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and occupying an entire city block, the City stocks more than a million new and used books. Nine color coded rooms house over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles"  It then goes on to say:
 "A few facts about the City of Books:
  • 68,000 square feet packed with books.
  • We buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day.
  • Approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day.
  • Another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee.
  • We stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections.
  • You'll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on our shelves.
  • Approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City's shelves every day in Portland and via the Internet.
So is our mother ship the world's largest bookstore? Heck, it may be bigger than your whole town."
When you're in Portland - especially since our nursery isn't open to the public - you'll have to spend some time at Powell's! So...when you coming???

2 comments:

  1. Wow! That's impressive; a whole city block city of books. I would love to visit Portland just to walk through Powells. I just viewed their website, and it looks great. I'm loving antique books with illustrations atm, and there's nothing quite like finding a treasure in a bookstore, plus a nice sit down of coffee or tea. Will add this to my list of things to do. :)

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  2. I'm a retired public library cataloguer and this place sounds like heaven to me!

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