Finish a Chapter — Bookshop Cafe in Burlington, VT
Nine thousand books shelved by people who have read a worrying number of them, and coffee good enough that you'd come for it alone.
A Bookshop That Makes Good Coffee
The order of those words matters. Marginalia has been a bookshop since 2010; the espresso machine arrived in 2013 because our customers kept going next door for a coffee and not coming back.
We've watched a lot of bookshop-cafes go the other way — the books thin out, the shelves become a backdrop, and eventually there are forty titles arranged by spine colour. Ours is nine thousand titles, ordered by subject, shelved by hand, and reviewed constantly. If a book hasn't sold in a year we ask ourselves why, and sometimes the answer is that we've shelved it badly.
The cafe is genuinely good and it is genuinely the second thing. That's the whole proposition.
- ✓Bookselling since 2010, coffee since 2013
- ✓9,000 titles, ordered by subject not colour
- ✓Every staff pick is written by the person who read it
- ✓Free gift wrapping, always, no minimum
Six Things We Do on Purpose
Several of these cost us money. They're the reason the shop still feels like a shop.
No Laptops After Noon
Mornings are for working and we're glad to have you. After twelve the tables go back to reading, talking and eating. It's on the door, we'll remind you kindly, and it's the single most commented-on thing about us.
Staff Picks Are Signed
Every pick card is handwritten by the bookseller who read it, with their name on it. If you hated it you know exactly who to complain to, which keeps everyone honest.
Ordered by Subject, Not Colour
It photographs worse and it works better. A shelf arranged by spine colour is a set decoration, not a bookshop, and we'd rather you found the thing you came for.
We'll Talk You Out of Books
If we think a title isn't right for you we'll say so and lose the sale. It's the only reason a recommendation from a bookseller is worth more than an algorithm's.
Special Orders, No Deposit
Almost anything in print, usually two days, and you pay when it arrives. In sixteen years the number of people who never came back for one is small enough that we've stopped worrying about it.
Free Wrapping, No Minimum
Paper, ribbon, done properly at the counter, even for a four-dollar paperback. It costs us about eleven hundred dollars a year and it is worth every cent in December.
118 College Street
Two rooms, a mezzanine reached by a staircase that creaks, and a window seat that is never free on a Sunday.
Four Things Before You Bring a Box
We buy secondhand every day and turn away about half of it. Here's how to be in the other half.
Bring Fewer, Better
Two carrier bags of things you actually loved beat six boxes cleared from a loft. We look at every book and a small good pile takes ten minutes rather than an hour.
Condition Matters More Than Age
A clean 2019 paperback is worth more to us than a foxed 1958 hardback. We're a shop, not an archive, and it has to sell to someone.
We Pay Cash or Credit
Credit is worth about forty percent more and most people take it. No obligation either way and no pressure at the counter.
We'll Say No Kindly
About half of what comes in isn't right for us, usually because we already have four copies. We'll tell you which ones and why, and point you at the library book sale for the rest.
A Fortnight at Marginalia
All free, all in the back room, and nobody will make you say anything.
Thursday · Author Evening
Seven o'clock, roughly forty seats, a writer and a bookseller in conversation for an hour. Free, no ticket, and we put the wine out at half six.
First Monday · The Fiction Group
Twelve years running. One novel a month, chosen by whoever hosted last. Newcomers are always welcome and nobody has ever been asked whether they finished it.
Third Monday · Non-Fiction
Newer, smaller, argues more. Currently working through a stack of history and popular science. Same rules — turn up, sit down, say nothing if you'd rather.
Sunday Mornings · Children's Hour
Ten o'clock, twenty minutes of reading aloud in the back room, then chaos. Free coffee for whoever brought them.
What Regulars Say
I asked for something like a novel I'd loved and the bookseller thought about it for a genuinely long thirty seconds, went and got two, and then said the second one was probably wrong and put it back. I've bought maybe forty books here on the strength of that thirty seconds.
The no-laptops-after-noon thing annoyed me for exactly one visit. Then I came in on a Saturday afternoon and there were people actually reading, and talking about what they were reading, and I understood what they'd protected.
Sixteen years and they still order anything in two days without making you feel bad for not knowing it was out of print. My daughter's whole childhood library came from that counter.
Books, Coffee and the Laptop Rule
Can I work here?
In the mornings, gladly — power at the long table and good wifi. After twelve the laptops go away and the tables go back to reading and talking. It's the only rule we have and it's the reason the afternoons feel the way they do.
Can I read a book without buying it?
Yes, and please do. Take it to a chair, read a chapter, put it back if it isn't for you. Roughly a third of what we sell is a book someone sat with first, and the other two thirds is why we can afford to let them.
Is there somewhere quiet?
The mezzanine, up the creaking staircase. Four chairs, north light, and an unwritten rule about talking that everyone somehow observes. The window seat downstairs is lovely and never free on a Sunday.
Can you order something for me?
Almost anything in print, usually two days, occasionally three weeks for something from a small press — we'll tell you which before you commit. No deposit, pay when it arrives.
Do you buy secondhand books?
Every day, and we turn away about half. Bring two bags of things you loved rather than six boxes from a loft. Cash or credit, credit's worth about forty percent more, and we'll say no kindly and explain why.
Will you recommend something?
It's the favourite part of the job. Tell a bookseller the last thing you loved and why, and give them thirty seconds. They may also tell you a book is wrong for you and put it back — that's the recommendation working, not failing.
Do I need a ticket for author evenings?
No. Thursdays at seven, roughly forty seats, first come. Wine at half six. If it's a big name we'll say on the board a fortnight out and people do turn up early.
Can I join a reading group mid-book?
Yes, and people do it constantly. Nobody checks whether you've finished it and several long-standing members have plainly never finished any of them.
Tell a Bookseller What You Last Loved
It's the favourite part of the job, it's free, and you may well leave with something you'd never have found on your own.
118 College Street, Burlington
Orders, secondhand books, reading groups, or a recommendation. A bookseller reads these, not a system.
- Visit us118 College Street, Burlington, VT 05401
- Call us(802) 555-0184
- Email ushello@marginaliabooks.com