Bill Text: MS SC576 | 2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognize Square Books in Oxford as 20th Anniversary Publishers Weekly "Bookstore of the Year."
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-2)
Status: (Passed) 2014-03-17 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC576 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-SC576-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Blount, Hopson, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Longwitz, Stone, Tollison
Senate Concurrent Resolution 576
(As Adopted by Senate and House)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING SQUARE BOOKS IN OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI, FOUNDED BY RICHARD AND LISA HOWORTH, UPON THEIR RECEIPT OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "BOOKSTORE OF THE YEAR AWARD."
WHEREAS, this year's 20th Anniversary Publishers Weekly (PW) Bookstore of the Year Award goes to Square Books on the historic Town Square of Oxford, Mississippi, the center of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County in William Faulkner's novels; and
WHEREAS, founded by Richard and Lisa Howorth in 1979, the store has grown into a trio of store fronts over the past three decades. It hosts "Thacker Mountain Radio" show, a live radio show with author readings and musical performances that airs on "Mississippi Public Radio," and the Annual Oxford Conference on the Book. It will hold its second Annual Camp Square Books for adults, four days of author talks, lectures, hikes and meals; and
WHEREAS, Square Books opened on the evening of September 14, 1979, in an upstairs location on the Oxford Town Square. Richard and Lisa Howorth had worked two years in self-apprenticeship at the Savile Bookshop in Washington, D.C., before returning to Richard's hometown to open their own store in the space they had renovated with the help of family and friends; and
WHEREAS, while the Square Books customer base is centered in the Oxford and University Community, the selection and display of books is focused on literature about Mississippi and the South. Customers find such books as a hardcover edition of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, or Shelby Foote's three volume Civil War, books that are not commonly available in a retail setting. Square Books also began hosting book-signings and readings as soon as the store opened, with Ellen Douglas and her new book, The Rock Cried Out, in October 1979, and the following month the great Mississippi Poet Etheridge Knight. Also, when Square Books opened, Bill Ferris came to Oxford as the first Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, immediately creating great enthusiasm for academic and cultural interest in the South and Oxford. Ferris was a great friend of Square Books, and was instrumental in bringing such writers as Toni Morrison, Allen Ginsberg, Alex Haley and Alice Walker to the store for readings and book-signings. Willie Morris became writer-in-residence at the University in 1980, was a great supporter of the bookstore, and brought to town William Styron, who in 1980, with Sophie's Choice on the bestseller list, became the first visiting writer to the store to create a line of buyers, and others, including James Dickey, George Plimpton and Peter Matthiessen. In 1982, Barry Hannah moved to town, a writer who was to literary fiction as Morris was to literary journalism, and Hannah had an enormous effect on his students; and
WHEREAS, while Square Books has been featured in a variety of media stores and is sometimes mentioned as one of the nation's finer independent bookstores, the Square Books' staff remains determined to make it simply the best bookstore for people in the Oxford and University of Mississippi Community. Richard has worked on a voluntary basis for the American Booksellers Association and is a former Mayor of Oxford, and General Manager Lyn Roberts has been a Board Member of the Independent Booksellers Consortium and longtime Alderman of Taylor, Mississippi. Square Books heartily supports the idea of a culture and economy made up of a network of vital, independent, locally owned businesses, bookstores especially, and appreciates the support of like-minded people:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, founded by Richard and Lisa Howorth upon their receipt of the 20th Anniversary Publishers Weekly "Bookstore of the Year Award" for 2013, and congratulate this enterprise which reflects positively on its community and state as one of the greatest bookstores in America.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Richard and Lisa Howorth, the Mayor and City Council of Oxford, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.
