Ithaca College sophomore and legal studies major Anabel Pimenta Velloso values access to independent bookstores — including Ithaca’s Buffalo Street Books.
“Local independent bookstores are the greatest thing ever, it is how I discovered my love for mysteries and stories,” Velloso said. “They are vital to my passion for reading and bring excitement to the community.”
Buffalo Street Books, in the Ithaca Commons, is hoping a new business model will help it continue to serve the community as it has since 1991. Boosters also hope it will help them bring in more revenue and resources.
Buffalo Street Books is in the final stages of transitioning to a nonprofit organization. It is awaiting approval of its 501(c)(3) status, which will allow it to be primarily tax-exempt.
The transition began in September 2024 in response to ongoing financial difficulties. Executive Director Lisa Swayze said she hopes the transition is complete by 2026.
Throughout the years the store has hosted hundreds of authors and community events that support the art and literary culture in Ithaca and provided discounted books to local schools, libraries and organizations.
Swayze said independent bookstores like Buffalo Street Books are an intrinsic good in the community, but the industry is failing to thrive across the country largely due to online retailers.
A nonprofit business model might open the door for more opportunities, she added.
“Lots of organizations talk about and try to work with publishers to leverage some change, but that has not been happening,” Swayze said. “Everyone is scrambling to figure out how to make it work because [independent bookstores] are so valued in our communities, and even publishers will acknowledge what a vital stream it is for them.”
New streams of revenue
Buffalo Street Books operates under a cooperative model, meaning the store is owned and operated by community members. Swayze said this model encourages community involvement but limits opportunities for funding.
The bookstore hosts between 100 and 150 community events per year and most of those are free, Swayze said, adding the store intends to maintain the community involvement with its new business model.
By transitioning to a nonprofit business model and obtaining 501(c)(3) status, Buffalo Street Books will be eligible to apply for local and federal grants, Swayze said. This could create a new stream of revenue for the bookstore.
Swayze said membership will be an option under the new model, which costs $100 per year and is available to anyone, which offers members discounted books and opportunities to engage with the board.
“If we’re lucky, a good author event will sell enough books to hopefully cover the cost of the effort and maybe make a little money toward the bottom line — but it’s all over the place in terms of whether that really works,” Swayze said.
The store is keeping elements of the cooperative model in the nonprofit model, Swayze added. For example, community members have always voted for the bookstore’s board of directors.
Swayze said that will remain the case as “it keeps that community connection even stronger still.”
Community impact
Eleanor Henderson is a local author, Ithaca College writing professor, former board member and current ambassador of Buffalo Street Books. Ambassadors spread the word about the bookstore to the greater Ithaca community.
Since 2010, Henderson has worked with Buffalo Street Books as an author to promote her books and as a community member tied to the art and literary culture of Ithaca. She said this shift in business model has been in conversation at Buffalo Street Books for years.
“The reality is that Buffalo Street Books has never had financial stability, and our arts are on the front line,” Henderson said. “They’re at risk in our country in a general way, but I think [Buffalo Street Books] have to take this risk in order to get to a place of more stability.”
During her tenure at the store, Henderson said, she has seen its tangible value to the community.
“We don’t have a writer’s house or writing center in Ithaca because I think so much of that is happening at Buffalo Street Books,” Henderson said. “You go in there any Sunday and there’s going to be a poetry workshop taking place or a reading or a conversation or festival event, and that takes a lot of time and energy.”
“So, they really are doing the work of a literary community center,” she added.
