Moe's Books
{{Short description|Bookstore in Berkeley, California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Moe's Books
| image = Moe's Books in Berkeley, California 02.jpg
| caption = Moe's Books storefront in 2024
| address = 2476 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, California, US
| coordinates =
}}
Moe's Books is an American bookstore near the University of California, Berkeley, located on Telegraph Avenue. With four floors, the bookstore stocks over 200,000 new and used books in various genres. Founded in 1959, it is considered by many news outlets to be one of San Francisco Bay Area's historic and culturally significant bookstores.
History
= 1959–2020: founding, Telegraph Avenue location, book theft =
The bookstore was founded by Moe and Barbara Moskowitz in 1959, with its original location on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, California. The bookstore was founded partly due to Moe Moskowitz's dissatisfaction with trade-in values at other American bookstores.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Carolyn |date=February 20, 2014 |title=New plaque honors Berkeley's beloved Moe's Books |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/new-plaque-honors-berkeley-s-beloved-moe-s-books-5249740.php |work=SFGate}} In the 1960s, it moved to its current location on Telegraph Avenue, where it shared a building with Print Mint until the latter moved out in 1966.{{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=July 3, 2019 |title=The Legend of Moe's Books |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/books/moes-books-berkeley.html |work=The New York Times}}Estren, Mark James (1993). A History of Underground Comics (4th ed.). Berkeley: Ronin Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0914171645}}.
Moe Moskowitz ran the bookstore until his death in 1997, after which his daughter, Doris Moskowitz, took over. In 2014, the Berkeley Historical Society installed a plaque outside of the bookstore in Moe Moskowitz's honor. In 2016, Doris Moskowitz published the book Radical Bookselling: A Life of Moe Moskowitz in honor of her father and the history of Moe's Books.
In 2016, a van full of rare books valued at around $350,000 total, owned by bookseller Lawrence Van De Carr, was stolen in Oakland, California. Van De Carr immediately reported it to the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, which issued an alert to nearby booksellers. Two men, Joshua Anderson and a since-unidentified accomplice, attempted to sell some of the stolen books to Moe's Books, including first editions of No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy and Pylon by William Faulkner, claiming that the books had been previously owned by their uncle. Some of the employees at Moe's Books, who had received the alert, directed the two men to the bookstore's rare books section to stall for time while notifying police. Anderson was ultimately arrested after attempting to flee the bookstore through the front, while his accomplice managed to escape through the back.{{Cite news |last=Lyons |first=Jenna |date=February 22, 2016 |title=Van filled with $350,000 in rare books stolen in Oakland |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Van-filled-with-350-000-rare-books-stolen-in-6843521.php |work=SFGate}}
Many notable figures have worked with Moe's Books and/or Moe Moskowitz. Steve Wasserman, the publisher at Heyday Books, wrote about the bookstore in his memoir, Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It’s a Lie, crediting Moskowitz for his education in bookselling and literature.{{Cite web |last=Furio |first=Joanne |date=2024-10-07 |title=Steve Wasserman recounts his life at pinnacle of publishing in new memoir |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/10/07/steve-wasserman-tell-me-something-tell-me-anything-even-if-its-a-lie |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}} Bob Baldock and Jonathan Lethem both worked at the bookstore for a few years.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-10-11 |title=Remembering Bob Baldock, who fought alongside Fidel Castro in Cuban Revolution and co-founded Berkeley bookstore |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/10/11/bob-baldock-obituary-fidel-castro-cuban-revolution |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}}
= 2020–present: COVID-19 and union =
File:Moe's_Books_in_Berkeley,_California_01.jpg
In 2020, the bookstore set up a GoFundMe to ensure its survival through the COVID-19 pandemic with a fundraising goal of $100,000.{{Cite web |last=Rasmus |first=Allie |date=2020-10-27 |title=Moe's, landmark Berkeley bookstore, endures economic hardships of pandemic |url=https://www.ktvu.com/news/landmark-berkeley-bookstore-struggling-to-endure-hardships-coronavirus-pandemic |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=KTVU FOX 2 |language=en-US}} The same year, on March 9, Moe's Books staff unionized and joined the Industrial Workers of the World due to concerns over safety protocols.{{Cite web |last=Haber |first=Zack |date=2021-04-02 |title=Building on a radical tradition, workers at Moe's Books unionize |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/04/02/moes-books-berkeley-union |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Brady |first=Erin |date=2021-11-09 |title=After 'Rude Awakening' in Last Year, Bookstore Workers Across U.S. Unionize |url=https://www.newsweek.com/after-rude-awakening-last-year-bookstore-workers-across-us-begin-unionize-1647604 |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} Having failed to unionize a decade before, the staff received helpful input and guidance from fellow booksellers at Elliott Bay Book Company and Bookshop Santa Cruz.{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Alex |date=March 11, 2021 |title=Moe's Booksellers Unionize |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85780-moe-s-booksellers-unionize.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Kim |date=2022-04-29 |title=Why the Book Industry Sucks for Workers |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/bookstore-workers-union |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}}
After some troubles between staff and management, including an incident where management fired a new employee after telling him not to speak to union members, Doris Moskowitz eventually recognized the union with a contract in 2021.{{Cite news |last=Dowd |first=Katie |date=March 10, 2021 |title=Citing 'many incidents' of 'poor safety,' Berkeley institution Moe's Books unionizes |url=https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/moes-books-telegraph-union-iww-16015359.php |work=SFGate}} In 2022, Kalie McGiurl, a book worker and union member, chronicled the Moe's Books union's experiences on the Verso Books website.{{Cite web |last=McGiurl |first=Kalie |date=May 31, 2022 |title=Building the Union at Moe's Books |url=https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/5363-building-the-union-at-moe-s-books |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Verso |language=en}}
Due to e-commerce, as well as urban decay on Telegraph Avenue, Moe's Books remains one of the few bookstores near University of California, Berkeley, still open. Due to its collection of books, totaling over 200,000, and its number of staff, with around 25 employees, it is considered the biggest bookstore in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Media
AFAR included the bookstore on their list of favorite bookstores in California.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-15 |title=Our Favorite Independent Bookstores in California |url=https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-best-independent-bookstores-in-california |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=AFAR Media |language=en}} Several publications, including Alta Journal, East Bay Times, Sacramento Bee, CBS, and 7x7, have recommended the bookstore on their respective lists for bookstores in the San Francisco Bay Area.{{Cite web |last1=Adiele |first1=Faith |last2=Blough |first2=Jessica |last3=Bruno |first3=Lee |last4=Ciabattari |first4=Jane |last5=Firth |first5=Andrea A. |last6=Ghasemiyeh |first6=Nasim |last7=Gonzales |first7=Michelle Cruz |last8=Padmanabhan |first8=Jaya |date=2022-06-27 |title=32 Bay Area Bookstores We Love |url=https://www.altaonline.com/books/bookstore-guide/g40170923/12-bay-area-bookstores-we-love/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Alta Online |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Herendeen |first=Lisa |date=2021-11-18 |title=19 fantastic Bay Area bookstores for bibliophiles to explore |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/18/19-fantastic-independent-bay-area-bookstores-for-bibliophiles-to-explore/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=East Bay Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=McManis |first=Sam |date=November 22, 2023 |title=A trip to the Bay Area's 'Great Eight' independent bookstores |url=https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/article6673710.html |work=The Sacramento Bee}}{{Cite web |last1=Medina |first1=Sarah |last2=Luke |first2=Mikaela |last3=Medina |first3=Eric |date=April 29, 2022 |title=20 Independent Bay Area Bookstores – 7x7 Bay Area |url=https://www.7x7.com/best-independent-bookstores-bay-area-1786780716.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=www.7x7.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2015-04-06 |title=Best Used Bookstores In The Bay Area |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/best-used-bookstores-in-the-bay-area/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last1=Medina |first1=Sarah |last2=Luke |first2=Mikaela |date=August 25, 2020 |title=The East Bay's Best Independent Bookstores – 7x7 Bay Area |url=https://www.7x7.com/east-bay-best-independent-bookstores-2647088373.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=www.7x7.com |language=en}}
The bookstore appears in a scene of the 1967 film The Graduate.{{Cite web |last=Romeyn |first=Kathryn |date=2017-11-07 |title=The 'Graduate' Guide to Berkeley |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/graduate-guide-berkeley-1055670/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}