From [words] Bookstore:
Publishers Weekly announced this morning that [words] Bookstore has been selected as one of five finalists for Bookstore of the Year. [words] was chosen from a group of 2500 independent bookstores for this recognition. The names of the five finalists were released at the Winter Institute, the annual meeting of the American Booksellers’ Association, with 750 booksellers from 450 bookstores in attendance. The five finalists are:
Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX)
Copperfield’s Books (Sebastopol, CA)
Full Circle Bookstore (Oklahoma City, OK)
Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA)
[words] Bookstore (Maplewood, NJ)
Jonah and Ellen Zimiles, owners of [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, NJ
Jonah Zimiles, who together with his wife, Ellen, are the owners of [words] Bookstore, was at the keynote session when the announcement was made. “We could not be more thrilled for Maplewood, South Orange, and all of our neighboring towns, without whom we never would have received this remarkable recognition. It is truly a tribute to our wonderful customers, superb staff and the terrific atmosphere of our village. We also hope that this honor will help to encourage other businesses to welcome and hire individuals with autism. We are honored to be in such fine company as the other outstanding bookstores named as finalists.”
Lisa Matalon, [words] Manager, also was in attendance at the Baltimore announcement. “I want to add my thanks to our [words] family, and hope that we will be selected as Bookstore of the Year.”
The Bookstore of the Year will be selected and announced in May.
