Devoting an entire bookstore to paperbacks was a novel idea in November 1961 when Paperback Booksmith opened in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner. Over time hardcovers and used books were added, and the store was renamed Brookline Booksmith. It now sells e-books and plans to install a print-on-demand machine early next year.
The book industry may be in the throes of a technological shift, but the thrill of discovering new authors remains a guiding principle. Long before Paul Harding’s “Tinkers,’’ published by the tiny Bellevue Literary Press, won a 2010 Pulitzer, the store’s booksellers were thrusting it into the hands of customers. They heard about the novel from a local resident, the daughter of the New York City doctor who founded the press. Last year Norwegian Per Petterson, author of “Out Stealing Horses,’’ made his only US bookstore appearance at the Booksmith, based, according to manager and co-owner Dana Brigham, “on how we hand-sold the book and our impassioned entreaties.’’
