This Ain't the Rosedale Library was an independent

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

located in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

."Can we keep the indie spirit?" ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', March 17, 2005. Located in the

Church and Wellesley Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

neighbourhood for much of its history, the store moved to

Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canad ...

in May 2008,"Booking out: This Ain't pulls up roots". ''

'', April 10, 2008. but closed in June 2010."Toronto's This Ain't the Rosedale Library bookstore at risk of closing"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', June 20, 2010. Its name referred to Rosedale, an affluent neighbourhood of the city. It was a general interest bookstore promoting

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

publications, nontraditional and

experimental fiction Experimental literature is a genre that is, according to Warren Motte in his essa"Experimental Writing, Experimental Reading" "difficult to define with any sort of precision." He says the "writing is often invoked in an "offhand manner" and the ...

LGBT literature LGBT literature may refer to: * Lesbian literature * Gay literature * Bisexual literature * Transgender literature * Or any other literature featuring the LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, ...

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

countercultural A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

nonfiction and one of the largest selections of contemporary poetry in Canada."Arts, lit and anarchy". ''

Eye Weekly ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the ''Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following ...

'', March 18, 2004. Because both owners were passionate about

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, the store also had a reputation for its especially deep selection of baseball-related books; as well, the store was known for offering Toronto's largest selection of underground

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

s. The store had a longstanding policy of only carrying books that at least one of the owners or employees had personally read, in order to ensure that the store's values were reflected in its selection of titles. The store was opened in 1979 by Charles Huisken, and Daniel Bazuin became co-owner in 1981. Originally located on

Queen Street East Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street (Toronto), King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline f ...

between Church and Jarvis, it moved to its more familiar location near Church and Wellesley by the mid-1980s. The bookstore had a rich history of author visits and readings, ranging from

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

and

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', which ...

and

Sarah Waters Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as ''Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''. Life and education Early life Sara ...

. Local scene members such as

Stuart Ross Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor. Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. He began writing at a very young age and was first published at age ...

Joey Comeau Joey Comeau (born September 26, 1980) is a Canadian writer. He is best known for writing the text of the webcomic '' A Softer World'', and for his novels ''Lockpick Pornography'' and ''Overqualified''. Career In 2003, Comeau co-created the webc ...

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (born April 21, 1975, in Worcester, Massachusetts) is a U.S. /Canadian poet, writer, educator and social activist. Their writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of ...

and

Marnie Woodrow Marnie Woodrow (born 1969) is a Canadian comedian and writer and editor. She has also worked as an editor, magazine writer and as a researcher for TV and radio. Woodrow has published two short fiction collections, ''Why We Close Our Eyes When We ...

made regular appearances to read and teach. The bookstore was also part of the "McSweeney's 100", the small selection of independent bookstores that were approved to sell

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

' literary magazine ''

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to n ...

'' and his early novels. In 2005, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Jeremy Mercer Jeremy Mercer (born 1971) is an author and journalist whose books include ''Time Was Soft There'' ( St. Martin's Press, New York, 2005) and ''When the Guillotine Fell'' ( St. Martin's Press, New York, 2008). He has also translated Robert Badinter's ...

named it Canada's best independent bookstore and the eighth best in the world, calling it a "model" for how an independent bookstore could survive in the changing retail climate.Jeremy Mercer's top 10 bookshops
''

'', December 6, 2005. Accessed 24 September 2008. By this time, Bazuin and Huisken were sending signals that they were open to selling the store to a new buyer, although none materialized. At the time of their move to Kensington Market in 2008, Bazuin sold his share of the store to Huisken's son Jesse."Turning the page on indie bookstores; Two literary landmarks celebrate 30 years in business, but there's only one happy ending". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', September 3, 2009. Prior to the move, the store had considered opening the Kensington Market store as a second location while keeping the Church Street location open, but rejected the idea as financially unfeasible.

Glad Day Bookshop Glad Day Bookshop is an independent bookstore and restaurant located in Toronto, Ontario, specializing in LGBT literature. Previously located above a storefront at 598A Yonge Street for much of its history, the store moved to its current location ...

then considered taking over the former This Ain't location on Church Street, although due to the high rent it did not do so."Historic gay bookstore at risk of closing". ''

'', May 31, 2010. By 2010, however, the store was having difficulty paying its monthly rent at the new location, and it closed permanently in June of that year.

References

{{reflist, 2 Independent bookstores of Canada Kensington Market Defunct retail companies of Canada Shops in Toronto 1979 establishments in Ontario 2010 disestablishments in Ontario