On November 11, 1970, two couples opened the door on Grok Books, a small bookstore located on West 17th Street that specialized in books on alternative politics, metaphysics, eastern religion, and political theory put out by small presses and little-known authors.
In 1978, Grok was taken over by a man named Philip Sansone, who renamed the store BookPeople, after the small but passionate group of revolutionary word-lovers in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Sansone moved the popular store first to the Brodie Oaks Shopping Center, and then to our current location at 6th & Lamar.
41 years later, Grok’s adventure in Austin bookselling lives on. Thank you for your support in helping us see another successful year here at BookPeople. We’re proud to continue to be a cultural center in this city. Every book you buy helps us fulfill this mission. We love bringing authors to Austin, forging an early love of books at our storytimes, encouraging literacy with events like our Halloween book give-away, and keeping you informed about the latest and best in the world of books. Your support means as much to us today as it did to the couples who opened Grok Books. The challenges facing independent bookstores right now are many, and we are grateful for the support and loyalty we see from our community every day.
Thank you for making BookPeople your bookseller and allowing us to continue to do what we love – share our passion for books. We are here to celebrate another year because of YOU.
Here’s to another wild, wonderful year of books!
BookPeople 