Natural sound of store sounds

VO: These are the sounds heard in a local and vibrant bookstore of Hyde Park. Steps leading to the basement-turned-bookstore, the phone ringing, books being scanned, discussion and storytelling. This store and a handful of others in Hyde Park have spent years building community and acting as a third space.

Kevin Bendle: 57 Street Books is this community bookstore, this great community bookstore.

VO: Kevin Bendle is executive director of the Seminary Co-op and 57th Streets bookstores. He has been in bookselling for over two decades and is committed to fostering a community space in his stores.

Mr. Bendle: Just today. I had a mom in and has a young son and goes to story time and it’s like multi-generational. People remember this store and have very fond memories and come back. We have a great children’s section, and I think our literature is amazing, and we’re a curated store for the neighborhood.

VO: His stores and other independent booksellers in the neighborhood such as Powell’s Books and Call and Response Books are one-of-a-kind stores that have defined Hyde Park’ s book scene for years. Yet, even with these books stores in the area, Barnes and Noble, a chain store, opened in Hyde Park on March 4. Selling more than 190 million books a year and racking up billions of dollars annually, the goal of the store is efficiency and output, finding the exact book each customer wants and quickly. But while efficiency saves time in a bookstore, local booksellers say it commonly causes the community aspect to be lost.

Mr. Bendle: Our neighbor, neighboring bookstores are great booksellers. We all do things a little differently. But I think it really covers Hyde Park, um, I’m not so sure that there needs to be another bookstore in Hyde Park that is not strictly focused on the neighborhood.

VO: Hyde Park’s bookstores host many community engagement events — from author events to storytimes to trivia night. And while Barnes and Noble will host similar events, existing stores have deeper roots in the neighborhood that tailor these events to the community. Mr. Bendle said his stores recently hosted “Catoween” with Hyde Park Cats and a banned books event with the Chicago Public Library. He added that the dollars go back to the people who live and work here and how there is a real community following.

Mr. Bendle: And while we weren’t, we didn’t have a particular book we were selling, people were very excited to be there. And after the event, people talked about buying banned books as holiday gifts. 
And we had all sorts of people shopping and, with stacks of books, purchasing, and those are the type of things that I don’t think, um, you’re gonna see at a national chain.

VO: 57th Street Books has hosted a storyteller for several years.

Natural sound of the storytime

VO: A lot of Chicagoans agree with Mr. Bendle in that the Barnes and Noble bookstore is not really necessary in Hyde Park and are planning to stick with the locally owned stores they know and love. They said the store would be more beneficial in parts of the city without a bookstore, and they want to support the diverse independent bookstores that already do a great job.

VO: Chicago author Ann Zhao was interviewed at 57th Street Books.

Ann Zhao: This is not to trash on any specific Barnes and Noble, because there have been Barnes and Noble booksellers that I know who are also, like, really great about talking about my book to customers and, like, promoting local authors. But I also feel like Barnes and Noble doesn’t necessarily need to be opening one of their stores in a neighborhood that already has so many indies that are doing really well for themselves. I mean, I understand why they’re doing it, because they think they can earn more money in Hyde Park than they can elsewhere. But I do wish that they would consider the communities a little bit more when they’re deciding where to open a new store.

VO: But, at the same time, even if they are not buying books, people still plan to check out the Barnes and Noble and are not opposed to more bookstores in the area.

A customer, Leo Welzig, was interviewed at Powell’s Books.

Customer: I don’t think the Barnes and Noble will do much for me. Um, but as far as, like, access to books goes, I think it’s probably important to have, especially in a busier area like that, it’s pretty important to have, um, something so that more people can access literature.

VO: Having more bookstores in the area might make Hyde Park a destination for book buyers instead of increasing competition between the stores. Even Mr. Bendle agrees that if Barnes and Noble brings more book buyers to Hyde Park that could be a good thing, even though it feels like the community needs are already being met.

Mr. Bendle: If there’s more book buyers coming to Hyde Park, that’s exciting. I think that Hyde Park, though, supports its local booksellers.

VO: Brad Jonas, the manager of Powell’s Books, pointed out that Barnes and Noble as a corporation is not necessarily bad or evil, it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be much reason or support for opening in Hyde Park.

Mr. Jonas: It’s this balance between, you know, of course, having competition makes it a problem, um, people are concerned whether or not Barnes and Noble has an unfair advantage, I think it cuts in lots of different ways. I mean, because I don’t think Barnes Noble understands the community as much as independent stores do, but they definitely have resources that a lot of smaller stores don’t have. But I think people try to make a big, like, good guys, bad guys, and I don’t think it’s that way. I think consumers should have an opportunity to buy wherever they want to buy, and that’s a good thing.

VO: Mr. Jonas hopes people will continue to shop at his store and predicts that if Barnes and Noble does not do well, and has to leave, it will make Hyde Park look bad just like Borders did when it left.

VO: Despite Barnes and Noble moving into the bookstore territory of Hyde Park, many customers plan to stick with the stores they know and Mr. Bendle has faith in his stores and their impact. He hopes that Hyde Park and 57th Street will thrive, remain vibrant and just be a place where people can run into their neighbors.

Mr. Bendle: I’m still fully convinced that a bookstore is a relevant, important place, and an independent bookstore provides things that no national chain bookstore can do.

This is Leila Koss, reporting for the U-High Midway.

This story was originally published on U-High Midway on March 6, 2026.