My Tour of City Lights Bookshop

Tucked in a three-story former antique store in downtown London, Ontario is City Lights Bookshop, the city's shopping destination for an "incredibly eclectic" variety of used books, music and video, kitsch memorabilia and other printed materials. The bookshop provides their patrons with a wide variety of literature on almost every imaginable subject, in addition to rare first editions, pop memorabilia and books signed by the author. Customers looking for a first edition Jack Kerouac novel, a children's book written and illustrated by H.G. Wells, or a Jackie Chan pop album will not leave the store empty-handed.

"There's a little saying about City Lights, that it has had every book at some point in time, but only one copy," manager Tyler Smith laughs. "I think that's a good way to describe this place."

The store started from humble beginnings as a table in the back of a downtown antique shop. It was the project of the young Marc Emery, now well-known as the "Prince of Pot," an international figurehead for cannabis advocacy and a founding member of the Marijuana Party of Canada. In 1975, Emery dropped out of high school, bought the bookstore and moved into a small apartment in the back of the building.

"I developed all my formative political techniques through this bookshop. I learned to hector the public into submission at this bookshop. And I certainly had a whole lot of fun." Emery smiles at the camera during a return to the store in 2008 while owner Teresa Tarasewicz films. Emery passed on City Lights to Tarasewicz and another former employee Jim Capel in 1992 when his wanderlust drew him away from the hometown anchor. "I adore the smell of this place," Emery remembers aloud, "which I've carried around the world with me since."

But well before his "high"ness began rabble-rousing on international platforms, he cultivated his political tenacity in the bookstore. Emery's own Cannabis Culture magazine was first published in City Lights' basement and sold in the shop. He tackled municipal regulations by refusing to close on a Sunday when it was against the law to remain open. After being fined by the city, he sold t-shirts in the shop that read, "I'm a criminal browser. I shopped at City Lights on a Sunday."

Tarasewicz was a film student at Western when she was hired by Emery as a window dresser. "At the time, it was very hard to find parking downtown, and people wouldn't come downtown to shop because of how much it cost," Tarasewizc remembers. "It was the holidays, so we made a display of Santa's sleigh being towed. It got a lot of attention!"

Though City Lights' window displays have always gotten attention thanks to Tarasewizc and her employee's fun attitude and creative flair. A Christmas, Halloween and Pride Week display always have an annual slot, but otherwise the City Lights team get creative and cheeky when dressing their window. It is, after all, the customers' first taste of all that City Lights offers. And I don't just mean books. As Tarasewicz says, "we like to have the atmosphere of visible fun."

This fun atmosphere attracts all sorts of clientele, from rare book collectors to armchair fiction lovers. Even a few famous patrons have walked through City Lights' door, including Leslie Feist ("She loved us!") and a couple members of Sonic Youth. Actor Crispin Glover had once come in looking for books on his only two topics of interest: "Volcanoes and diseased eyeballs!" Tarasewizc laughs. "And we had books on both of those subjects!"

It is really no wonder that the word on City Lights bookshop has extended far past their London regulars, especially when they treat their regulars so well. The bookshop's employees are far better than any surly old clerk you'll find in other used bookstores. Walk through the door and within seconds you'll be greeted by smiling faces and offers of help. The staff has been known to tear apart entire bookshelves and displays just to find a single book for a patron, and their database-like knowledge of their stock rivals big-box bookshops and online stores. The difference is it is all in their heads. "At City Lights there is no question too trivial, no book unimportant," Smith tells me.

But even during my visit, the store's old cash register breaks down. Smith manages to get it working again within a few moments fortunately, but it leaves behind a shadow of a doubt. Can an old-fashioned bookshop like City Lights stand its ground in the digital age? Will this old flame be snuffed out by the likes of Amazon.com or Indigo books? "You know, we have to ask ourselves, are we done?" Tarasewizc says. "It is something we worry about in this digital age. Maybe we should turn this into a museum instead."

But leave it to the City Lights staff to keep the mood light and the atmosphere fun. In the face of the digital takeover, Smith and Tarasewizc accredits the shop's perseverance to the staff's "physical love of books". "Is that a hard cover, or are you just happy to see me?" Tarasewicz laughs. "Yeah, now remove your dust jacket. Slowly," Smith joins in. At the end of the day, the City Lights staff is satisfied with their old fashioned cataloguing and customer to clerk relations. As Tarasewicz tells me, "we just like to see the books go to a good home."