About

The Islander Bookshop is a community inspired bookstore located on the traditional homeland of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people.  We are honored to learn from the heritage and culture of the Alutiiq people. 

At the Islander you'll find books which reflect not only the history and traditional culture of Kodiak...you will also find books which are requested by readers throughout our community.  The bookstore carries new and used books, and offers a robust special order system for books.

Local support is instrumental in keeping our bookstore open and thriving, and we believe in paying that kindness forward. One of our main goals for the bookstore is to have 25+ Kodiak or Alaskan authors and maker's goods available for sale in the bookstore.  So when you make a purchase at the bookstore, the money continues to recycle through our community spreading good further throughout entrepreneurs in our town.

Our indie bookstore is focused on creating a third space in the community - a place where people feel comfortable stopping in, browsing through books, seeing the latest creations from fellow artists and community members, wrapping their hands around their membership coffee mug, and relaxing with friends.

Small, independent bookshops are making a comeback across the country. From 2009 - 2015 there was a significant decline of small bookshops because of the influx of e-readers and e-books. However, from 2015 to now there has a been a resurgence of people moving back to the printed word. Small bookshops who specialize on creating warm, welcoming environments and who offer services that their community loves are able to compete with e-books and online sales - this movement is called a community supported bookshop.

Throughout the building of this bookshop we have talked with community members who begin to share how much they love a paper copy of a book. We love listening to their stories of where they were when they read their favorite book, how they display their books in their homes, but what is most moving is how people we have just met start to light up when they start talking about what book they are reading. There is something special that happens when people connect with a book.

We are proud to bring a small, bookstore back to the island. We want to honor the bookshops that have come before - people in our community have such fond memories of The Next Page and The Shire Bookstore.

The Islander Bookshop will continue to refine itself so that we are reflective of our community and provide an experience for our community members which is welcoming, heartwarming, and hopefully enriches the lives of all of our customers.

Thank you for your support  ~ Melissa Haffeman, Founder & Co-Owner and Kate Paulson, Co-Owner

 

Learn More About The Islander Bookshop