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« Magistrate opposes Price's request to return to R.I. prison | Today | Student protest prompts return of popular Providence principal » March 15, 2006Supporters plan rally today to keep Brown Bookstore independentPROVIDENCE -- A newly formed coalition is hoping that a rally tonight will help convince Brown University not to lease its $12-million-a-year bookstore to a national retailer such as Barnes & Noble’s college division or Follett Higher Education Group. The rally is at 5:30 p.m. in front of the bookstore at 244 Thayer St. The Save the Bookstore coalition sprouted quickly in the wake of news early this month that the majority of a university review committee favored leasing the bookstore, coalition spokesman Brian Sweeney said. “We really have faith that the university, after seeing the kind of support there is for the bookstore, will actually make the right decision for Brown and the community and agree to keep the bookstore independent,” Sweeney said. More than 175 people have signed on as supporters and allowed the coalition to post their names on its website. One of the group’s main concerns is that a three-story chain bookstore, opposed to some of the more modest chains that exist on Thayer Street, would drive up rents and put enormous pressure on independent businesses along the trendy stretch of Thayer, Sweeney said. The new group is led by fewer than 10 people, but it already has well over 200 people on its e-mail list, Sweeney said. He doesn’t know how many of those people support the organization’s cause or are just interested in the group’s actions. The bookstore has been a staple of College Hill on Providence’s East Side since 1970. Posted by Kate Bramson |
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