Book Culture

Chris Doeblin with daughters Danica (left) and Frances

Photograph: Imogen Brown

If you’re a hard-core bookworm or a Columbia student, chances are you know Book Culture. For more than a decade the store was called Labyrinth Books, but when owner Chris Doeblin bought out his partner in August 2007, he made a few changes­—starting, but not ending, with the name. “Labyrinth Books was very hard-edged. It had concrete floors, the lighting wasn’t great, and a lot of inventory was excluded, like kids’ books,” he says.

The addition of carpeting, gentle light and a cozy children’s corner has softened the edge, but Book Culture remains committed to showcasing works that might receive less attention elsewhere. You’ll find Carle and Wise Brown on the kid-height displays, but you’ll also find titles like Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad by James Rumford and The Lonesome Puppy by Yoshitomo Nara. Doeblin didn’t start out as a children’s-lit expert, but since becoming a dad to twins Danica and Frances three years ago, he has embarked on a full-immersion education. “As a parent, you get to know certain kids’ books very well,” he says. “When my girls find the right book, they’ll have me read it four times in a row, sometimes for weeks on end.”

On weekend mornings, though, Doeblin leaves the narrating to someone else and plunks down next to his daughters to take in the shop’s events for children. Storytellers like Nina Jaffe pack the house, filling the miniature chairs, low benches and carpet space with the little literati. It’s a far cry from the Morningside Heights of the 1980s, when Doeblin started his career as a bookseller and, he remembers, nobody wanted to venture over to Columbus Avenue or park on Riverside Drive. Now families have everything they need within walking distance—restaurants, playgrounds and, of course, book nooks. “The library is just amazing, and then there’s Morningside Bookshop, and of course Bank Street Books, a gem, where my kids spend tons of time and money,” he says. Sounds like GameStop and the Apple Store have got some tough competition uptown.

—Nicole Caccavo Kear

536 W 112th St between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway (212-865-1588, bookculture.com)