Women & Children First in Chicago has been named the inaugural recipient of the Great Lakes Bookstore of the Year Award, presented by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA). The annual award recognizes “outstanding achievement” in bookselling and community engagement across the Great Lakes region.
The award will be presented on Oct. 7, during this year’s Heartland Fall Forum in Milwaukee, to Lynn Mooney and Sarah Hollenbeck, WCF’s co-owners since 2014. Founded in 1979 by Linda Bubon and Ann Christophersen, the feminist bookstore has been, per a GLIBA release, “a Chicago staple for over four decades, committed to amplifying underrepresented voices and hosting events that inspire conversation and activism.” WCF was a finalist for PW Bookstore of the Year in 2014.
Other booksellers were among those who nominated WCF for the award. Tim Smith, operations manager at Schuler Books in Grand Rapids, Mich., wrote in his nominating letter: “Women & Children First is one of those bookstores that you walk into and just exhale a little bit because you know you are among people who care about everyone who stops by. They care about the books of course, but it is the fact that everyone can find sanctuary there that comes through the loudest. The entire team at Women & Children First are the kind of people that make this bookstore such an integral part of their community.”
Nina Barrett, the owner of Bookends and Beginnings in nearby Evanston, Ill., who once worked as a bookseller at WCF, added: “Lynn, Sarah, and their passionate staff of committed booksellers have continued to question received wisdom, call out injustices, and ensure that marginalized and underserved voices have a home where they can speak out loud and clear. Women & Children First is simply one of the finest mission-driven bookstores in this country.”
