It's fun that there's a whole city block, and you can lose yourself in your interests. Her husband likes Powell's so much that he went to work there. It's a nice quiet place to spend an afternoon and know you're going to be around kindred spirits. Blackboards announce the latest choices in Oprah's Book Club and the winners of the Caldecott, Newbery and National Book awards. Staff favorites are recommended near the Green entrance.
Calendars list frequent readings, author visits and book clubs.
Powell's success is all the more amazing in light of national trends. Last fall, sales space was increased by 25 percent, and lighting has been improved. The new map is easier to read, the signs easier to follow. The store's Orange Entrance at the corner of Couch and Northwest 11th Avenue was enlarged and marked with a column that Powell's calls its Pillar of Books, a stack of concrete tomes it considers among literature's most momentous. Despite the improvements, Powell's retains the funky casualness of its early days.