Bolerium Books is an institution, and a sanctuary, for its diverse clientele.
's Mission District since 1985. A co-owner since the beginning, Durham has seen, and learned, quite a lot here — both from the store’s wide-ranging collection of books and artifacts and from the whiplash-inducing clientele who’ve stopped by to poke around.
An issue of The Communist, from 1942; one of the many unique items to be found at Bolerium Books, in San Francisco's Mission District.“The stuff we do is so obscure,” Durham tells me. “Your average person isn't going to know what to make of it. We want to basically appeal to people who are really interested in our catalog and really want to learn or already know quite a bit and want to expand their knowledge. We're not set up for a general storefront.
When Durham — and his co-founder and partner, Sue Englander — first opened the Mission shop, it took up one room on the third floor. As their collection has grown by the tens of thousands, Durham and Englander have leased out more and more rooms. They now occupy almost all of the third floor. Other co-owners have come and gone; Durham and Englander own 80% of the business, and Akin owns 20%, with the plan being that Akin will slowly buy Durham out.
We venture into another room, where racks and racks of books consigned in recent years await cataloging. It’s Akin’s job to look through them and decide where they go. “There's enough in here to work on for the rest of my life,” he says. Bolerium Books features a wide range of rare items for sale, such as a copy of the Black Panthers' 1968 Christmas newspaper edition, left, and an original poster for Harvey Milk's city supervisor campaign, upper right.
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