When a person turns 70, the milestone calls for a momentous birthday bash. But when a beloved bookstore — especially one that’s had some close calls over the years — turns 70, nothing short of a block party will do. At least that’s how the leadership at Kepler’s is approaching the landmark occasion Saturday.
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To celebrate the bookstore’s birthday, the shop is hosting a block party 2-5 p.m. Sept. 20. Expect family-friendly activities, including a retro photo booth, local food vendors, a giant birthday cake, kids activities and live music from Peninsula rock band Effie Zilch. RSVPs are encouraged.
“Kepler’s has been the Peninsula’s living room for curious minds for 70 years — a place where ideas spark, stories connect us, and community comes alive. We’ve made it this far because our community believes in the power of ideas, and books, and we engage deeply and authentically with our community about our challenges and opportunities,” says Praveen Madan, Kepler’s CEO.
Five-year-old Harry Potter fan Griffin Caryotakis reacts to a Sorting Hat selecting him for the Gryffindor house at Hogwarts. Kepler’s Books re-created storefronts from the series as it prepared to sell the latest release, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” at midnight on June 21, 2003. (Jim Gensheimer/Mercury News)
But the road to Saturday’s festivities hasn’t been a simple one. After founder Roy Kepler opened the store in 1955, it became a leader in the so-called paperback revolution of the 1950s and ’60s, which broadened access to affordable books — then 35 cents a piece — and helped to democratize reading. Drawing in countercultural icons like the Grateful Dead and Joan Baez, the bookshop became a hub for Peninsula culture and discourse.
The shop chugged along through the 1980s as management passed from founder Roy Kepler to his son, Clark, but by 2005, the business landscape for bookstores and booksellers had changed and deteriorated. Kepler’s closed its doors at the end of August that year, but an enormous public outcry, and a “Save Kepler’s” blog by bookshop fan and Google employee Ricky Opaterny helped to galvanize a movement to keep the shop alive. Weeks later, the store reopened with a new board of directors, new shareholders, a renegotiated lease and a membership program.
Clark Kepler, owner of Kepler’s Book Store in Menlo Park, holds a giant pair of scissors as he prepares to cut the ribbon on the grand re-opening of the well know book store. Hundreds of people came out for a rally for the well loved indepenent book store.
(John Green/San Mateo County Times)
In 2011, Clark Kepler announced plans to retire, and in 2012 passed ownership to a group of volunteers, including Madan, that worked to fundraise to help the bookstore overcome its debts and stabilize the business. Planning began for a leadership transition and for the bookstore’s future success, which led to the separation of the bookstore and its community outreach and event programs into separate entities: Kepler’s Books and Kepler’s Literary Foundation. The shifts earned the organization a countywide sustainability award in 2016, and in 2021, the organization convened a conference, Reimagining Bookstores, to tackle some of the challenges facing bookstores and booksellers nationwide.
Today, Kepler’s Books is a bustling brick-and-mortar bookshop, while the Kepler’s Literary Foundation brings authors into local underresourced schools and maintains a calendar crammed with upcoming author talks, book club discussions and workshops. Among them are a conversation between “This Is Now” radio host Angie Coiro and political economist Robert Reich (Sept. 24), a benefit with Joan Baez (Oct. 29), and a conversation between authors Gary Shteyngart and Andrew Sean Greer (Nov. 3).
Scott Shafer, an employee from Menlo Park, organizes books at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
So what might Kepler’s next 70 years look like? “In a time of polarization and disinformation, places like Kepler’s are even more important as trusted community spaces where people can gather, think critically, and engage with ideas together,” Madan says. “So, we plan to keep reimagining what our bookstore can be while staying vibrant, inclusive, committed to honoring free expression, and rooted in the joy of discovery.”
Details: Kepler’s Books is hosting a block party to celebrate its 70th anniversary 2-5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, at 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. More info at: keplers.org/upcoming-events-internal/70th-block-party.