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Knoxville's Independent Bookstores

At McKay, the art of buying, selling, and trading has been refined into a science—requiring actual instructions on how to do so. In a busy week, customers will bring in around 80,000 individual items; CDs, DVDs, and books.

photo by David Luttrell

At McKay, the art of buying, selling, and trading has been refined into a science—requiring actual instructions on how to do so. In a busy week, customers will bring in around 80,000 individual items; CDs, DVDs, and books.

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  • McKay Used Books, CDs, Movies, and More off Papermill Drive can be a wonder to behold, even on a not-so-busy day. Despite consumer migration to digital downloads, it has made a great success out of recycling old-fashioned physical media, with stores also in Chattanooga and Nashville.
  • At McKay, the art of buying, selling, and trading has been refined into a science—requiring actual instructions on how to do so. In a busy week, customers will bring in around 80,000 individual items; CDs, DVDs, and books.
  • After nearly six years in business, Carpe Librum—Knoxville’s only independent new-books store—is calling it quits. The doors are scheduled to close for the last time on Dec. 31.
  • Carpe Librum’s owners—including Martha Arnett (left) and Flossie McNabb (right)—also work in the bookstore themselves, getting to know their customers personally, as well as their reading habits.
  • The Book Eddy has been on Chapman Highway for the past 12 years, with owner John Coleman and his staff filling it with some 150,000 items—which is making for a large, slow job of moving things. He hopes to open a new store Central Street Books by Dec. 1.
  • Faced with the looming closure of Henley Street Bridge for up to three years, owner John Coleman is closing South Knoxville’s Book Eddy. He’ll be opening a new shop in Downtown North called Central Street Books.

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