The Wooster Book Company was a publishing firm and bookstore located in
Wooster, Ohio
Wooster ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. Located in northeastern Ohio, the city lies approximately south-southwest of Cleveland, southwest of Akron and west of Canton. The population was 27,232 at t ...
.
Company profile
The Wooster Book Company promotes and develops literary works of regional interest to Ohio and surrounding areas; especially those written works which feature themes of natural history and rural living.
2008 profile of company in ''Cleveland Jewish News''
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A small publisher with over one-hundred titles, The Wooster Book Company has produced titles such as ''Ohio’s Bicentennial Barns'' and ''Covered Bridges: Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia''. As the publisher of books by Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield (December 27, 1896 – March 18, 1956) was an American writer and conservationist. A bestselling novelist in the 1920s, he reinvented himself as a farmer in the late 1930s and became one of the earliest proponents of sustainab ...
, one title, ''Early Autumn
''Early Autumn'' is a 1926 novel by Louis Bromfield. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1927. In 1956, producer Benedict Bogeaus announced that he was adapting the book into a film to be titled "Conquest," but the film was never made. ...
'', a novel, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
and one title, ''Awake and Rehearse'', collects several O. Henry Prize
The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry.
The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty bes ...
stories.
The Wooster Book Company also publishes books by Scott Russell Sanders
Scott Russell Sanders (born October 26, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American novelist and essayist.
Sanders has won acclaim for his skill as a personal essayist. A contributing editor for ''Orion'' magazine, he has won the John Burroughs ...
, a winner of the Lannan Foundation
The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
literary award, and by Wes Jackson
Wes Jackson (born 1936) co-founded the Land Institute with Dana Jackson. He is also a member of the World Future Council.
Early life and education
Jackson was born and raised on a farm near Topeka, Kansas. After earning a BA in biology from K ...
, president of the Land Institute
The Land Institute is an American nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated fo ...
.
The publishing company is directly affiliated with the bookstore of the same name.
History
The Wooster Book Company was established in September 1992 as an independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...
. It now occupies with over 40,000 titles.
In 2000, The Wooster Book Company took over the sponsorship and administration of the Buckeye Book Fair, Ohio's largest literary event. The Book Fair is open to the public, with approximately one hundred authors participating in the annual day-long festival.
Under the trade name “The Wooster Book Company,” its first title, a corporate history of Rubbermaid
Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Brands. It is best known for producing food storage containers and trash cans. Additionally, it produces sheds, footstool, step stools, closet ...
, written by retired Rubbermaid CEO and chairman of the board, Donald E. Noble Donald E. Noble (January 21, 1915 – June 30, 2002) was an American businessman and the CEO of Wooster Rubber Company, the predecessor of Rubbermaid, from 1959 to 1980. He also founded TechniGraphics in Wooster.
Education and work history
Noble ...
, was released in 1996.
Subsequent publishing projects have been done in association with the Ohio State University Medical Center
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is a multidisciplinary academic medical center located in Columbus, Ohio, United States, on the main campus of Ohio State University, The Ohio State University.
For 29 consecutive years, ''U.S. News ...
, Ohio Department of Natural Resources
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is the Ohio state government agency charged with ensuring "a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all." ODNR regulates the oil and gas industry, the m ...
, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) is the research institution of the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The center is home to research projects ranging from plant and animal sci ...
, Ohio Library Council, and the American Angus Association
The American Angus is an American breed of beef cattle. It derives from the Scottish Aberdeen Angus population, but may only be black. Red-coated individuals may not be registered with the American Angus Association, but can be registered as Re ...
.
Additional titles in many areas of interest have been released under ISBN prefixes 1-59098 and 1-888683.
Awards
As a bellwether establishment of a downtown (Main Street) revitalization, The Wooster Book Company was the recipient of a community design commission award in 1993 for restoration and renovation and a Chamber of Commerce “Successful Business Award” (1995).
Children's programs in the bookstore were recognized with a “Friend of Young Children” award in 1997. The business expanded in 2000, rebuilt and restored its facade in 2001 as well as expanding their publishing services operation in the same year. This resulted in a second recognition for revitalization and a second nomination for a Chamber of Commerce successful business award in 2005.
In 2002, David Wiesenberg, co-owner of The Wooster Book Company was recognized with an Ohioana Citation for his contribution to the community and for commitment to Ohio literatur
The Wooster Book Company was recognized in 2008 by the Ohio Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, as an Advocate for the Literary Art
References
External links
Public radio profile of Louis BromfieldBuckeye Book FairGreat Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLiBA)Ohioana LibraryOhio Center for the Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooster Book Company
Independent bookstores of the United States
Small press publishing companies
Book publishing companies based in Ohio
Publishing companies established in 1992