Talking Leaves bookstore a local treasure

Talking Leaves lies amidst the construction sites and frustrating traffic jams on Main Street. It is one of Buffalo's oldest independent bookstores.

Struggling to stay afloat in a business dominated by large corporate chain stores, this small shop has survived and established itself as a bookselling giant throughout both Buffalo and the nation.

"It is a bookstore that from the very beginning has been dedicated to literature and culture, and it is the only one of its kind in the area," said Professor Mark Shechner, current chair of the English department.

Students complain about making the hike down to South Campus each semester to pick up textbooks, but each trip to Talking Leaves is a chance to experience a literary and cultural atmosphere that is unique to smaller, independent stores.

Preserving this type of bookstore, small with an intimate setting focused on the arts, was the motive behind opening Talking Leaves in 1971. When a popular bookstore across from South Campus announced plans to close its doors, a group of UB graduate students rallied together to ensure that Buffalo did not lose an important and influential business. These 10 to 15 students bought the store's location, funded by personal and bank loans, and Talking Leaves was born.

Talking Leaves maintained its commitment to true literature even when large bookstores began to open around the nation in the 1980s, and continued to flourish despite the tough competition.

Jonathon Welch, one of the original founders of Talking Leaves who currently co-owns the store with his wife, said that his intentions in the 1970s were the same as they are today: to focus on the educational aspects of literature, which are frequently missing in other bookstores.

"We try to be a place that represents issues, people, and ideas that were not generally represented and didn't have a voice. That is something we haven't backed away from," said Welch. "Our purpose is to be able to get books you can't get everywhere."

The store's extensive collection of books by women, Native American and gay and lesbian authors certainly makes it unique, and is one reason that Talking Leaves stands out among a plethora of chain bookstores.

"We're told all the time that people find things here that they can't find anywhere else," said Welch. "We have an extensive, loyal, and informed customer base and we have survived while many of our colleagues have not."

Welch credits his success to the devoted and active kinship it has developed with the surrounding area.

"I think there's something special about us in Buffalo that has allowed us to survive. I don't know exactly what it is, but it has something to do with the strong community," he said.

Local businesses certainly have the ability to both take and give from their community, and Talking Leaves is no exception. Talking Leaves partners with the Just Buffalo Literary Center to promote literacy as well as doing their part to educate and reach out to schools. They work for around 50 out-of-store events a year, including book fairs, and events at the Albright-Knox and Hallwalls galleries.

"Anything that helps to create and build literacy. We involve ourselves in the culture of books as much as possible," said Welch. "We are a place in the community where people can come for literacy issues and then give back."

In addition, Talking Leaves continues to foster a strong relationship with the University at Buffalo, where Welch was a former Ph.D. candidate, carrying textbooks for a variety of departments including English, anthropology, women's studies and theater.

"It's part of our community," said Shechner. "It takes its identity from us, and we take our identity from them. It is an institution that we feel very connected to."

Loyal commitment to former students, as well as an effort to support a unique and special bookstore, inspires many departments at UB to continue to order their textbooks from it.

"We see them as a part of ourselves. There is a community of values there that are very important to us. I like to think that their survival has something to do with our support of them," said Shechner.

While buying textbooks at Talking Leaves certainly opens students up to the bookstore, and brings in business that might have not otherwise existed, Welch said that it is not the major part of the store's business.

"To be the kind of bookstore we want to be we don't need to be a textbook store," said Welch. "It's been a very useful relationship but it does not define us. We do the textbooks as a way of introducing ourselves to students. It's a form of advertising, and it works as well as any other. We're happy to get people here."

Many students who shop at Talking Leaves for textbooks return later.

"I prefer to give my business to local stores," said Heather Carper, a senior English major. "Talking Leaves is calm and not rushed or crowded, I don't know what you could find there that you couldn't find anywhere else."

With their second location opened in 2001 on Elmwood Avenue, and their continual outreach to the Buffalo community, Talking Leaves will hopefully continue to thrive as an independent bookstore focused on literature and the spreading of that interest.

"For us the most important thing is that people read books and anything we can do in this regard we will do," said Welch. "Reading is fundamental to our survival. If people don't read, we don't survive."