Books and beyond: Longtime Menlo Park bookshop Feldman’s has become a flourishing community hub

For more than two decades, Feldman’s Books in Menlo Park has been a favorite spot for local readers, a treasure trove of second-hand books. But the shop, which moved from its location on El Camino Real to Curtis Street in 2021, also has increasingly become a community gathering space and a venue for a variety of live events, including musical performances, author visits, discussion groups and more. 

“At a time when many feel disconnected from community, these events offer an opportunity to interact with one another, and a welcome sense of human connection,” Menlo Park accountant and friend of Feldman’s Laura Redmond told this news organization in an email. Redmond co-hosts the monthly Stoic book club and has helped host other Feldman’s events as well.

Growing as an event venue and community hub has been a goal of owner Jack Feldman and store manager Aidan Stone ever since they planned the store’s move (the original building was demolished). After bringing in the bookshelves and stock, they found their new digs were roomier and more comfortable than their old ones – the perfect setting for their quirky collection of chairs, many of which have interesting histories of their own. They even had room to bring in a piano, which had belonged to Feldman’s daughter and is available for anyone to play.  

“There ended up being this big space left over and we thought, ‘Well, (we will) do something with it,'” Feldman recalled, noting that some of the bookshelves are also on wheels, and can be reconfigured as needed. 

“I said to Aidan, ‘You could be my event coordinator.’ It just started taking off after a while,” he said. 

Success wasn’t immediate. It was, after all, the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and live events were heavily impacted. But a concert by local rock duo Effie Zilch in December of 2022 drew a big crowd. 

“I think that gave us the intimation that we could do something,” Stone said. 

In October of 2023, Irish writer Manchán Magan proved a big hit with his lecture on the Irish language, baking bread right in the shop as part of his event. At that point, after observing the enthusiasm, the Feldman’s crew began posting all their events on their updated website and welcoming more and more artists, speakers and groups into the shop. 

“Jack and Aidan’s conversations with customers uncover lots of local talent right under our noses,” Redmond said. “Feldman’s customers are writers, musicians, artists, florists, philosophers, teachers, actors, chefs, bike mechanics and so on. An interesting conversation often leads to an event. And the event invites the community into the conversation.”

Most events are on Friday nights but, due to popular demand, they’ve now spread to other days and times as well. Some feature musicians on the East Palo Alto record label Redtone Records, such as the aforementioned Effie Zilch, which has become the house band of sorts. Redtone’s Justin Phipps even works in the shop on occasion. 

“You can’t really discount how much Steve and Evanne (Wyreman and Barcenas, both of Effie Zilch), and lately Justin, have really now become part of the furniture here, bringing people in here just by their music,” Stone said. “For months after (Effie Zilch’s) first concert in 2022, people were coming in here and being like, ‘Oh I was there that night!”

The Grammy award-winning musician and producer Wyreman has played in all sorts of venues but Feldman’s holds a special place in his heart, as it has ever since he was a Menlo Park teen, shopping at the old location after school. 

“It’s just a cool all-ages thing; there’ll be kids and there’ll be old-timers telling stories,” he said, likening Feldman’s to how he imagines a Greenwich Village or North Beach coffee shop during the beatnik heyday. As a musician, performing there is a different, more intimate and casual experience from the electric, full-band shows he often plays. 

“It’s a nice construct to be able to do acoustic music and try things out and see what may work,” he said. Phipps often plays piano before events, and when Wyreman is there, “I’ll play a little, even if we’re not on the bill,” he said. “It’s a great community of other artists, too, that Aidan puts together.”

Storyteller Steve Budd has performed many of his one-man shows, and musicians Rory McNamara and Chandran Sankaran are both frequent performers, to name just a very few. There’s a monthly poetry night, political discussions, photography exhibitions and gardening talks. In May, Feldman’s staff member Gwen Minor offered a presentation on “The Iliad,” “The Odyssey” and “The Aeneid,” with recitations in Ancient Greek by Stanford University’s Florence Lienhard. Other recent events have included  “Hardboiled Truth: A Celebration of Local Crime Authors,” co-sponsored by California Writers Club, and Feldman’s own 28th birthday bash, which included performances by numerous musicians. Sometimes, on Sunday mornings, The Bike Kitchen, headed by mechanic Clayton Keller, offers bike maintenance (while donuts and coffee are served), and Sabine the therapy dog drops by for some puppy love. There are even, by Feldman’s own request, dance parties. 

“It’s really quite dynamic, what’s happening here,” Stone said.

Sometimes, the store reaches out to potential performers or writers, but most of the time, folks reach out to them. 

“It’s kind of a legendary place; they want to come,” Stone said. “And we usually raise decent money for them” (most events are free, with donations suggested).

Near the store’s entrance is an avocado tree, which was cut and transplanted by Feldman’s daughter and her team of arborists from the large tree at the store’s original location (where it had been planted decades before). Seeing it, Stone said, is a poignant reminder of their roots. 

“That tree is to me emblematic of something that’s really blossomed at this space, which couldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the old original bookstore,” he said. “This is definitely like a maturity of or an extension of the original bookstore. We had little events in the back garden at the old location but it wasn’t really conducive to weekly community events like this space.”

Menlo Park resident Keyko Pintz has been enjoying the musical and poetry events, as well as the general open-minded, inclusive atmosphere. 

“Most institutions are more focused on the bottom line rather than creating a community of like-minded people who want to learn and create with each other and really care about each other,” she said. Feldman’s “feels like home. It’s not all about creating wealth, it’s more about creating ideas and creating an atmosphere that is welcoming to all new artists and people who think different.” 

Feldman’s events calendar is filling up nicely for the summer, and Feldman and Stone have some authors and artists on their wishlist for future appearances. Feldman’s fellow downtown Menlo Park bookshop, the venerable Kepler’s, is known for its own frequent literary events, and the two shops have a good relationship, Feldman said. 

“We work a lot with Kepler’s,” Stone said. “I don’t think Feldman’s would have been as successful as a bookstore over the years if we hadn’t had a new bookstore a couple blocks away” (“You gotta have a new book before you can have a used book,” Feldman noted).  Kepler’s, they said, has always been generous and encouraging to Feldman’s in its endeavors.

Stone worked at another esteemed shop – Bell’s Books in Palo Alto – years ago.

“I’m hoping we will have Margo Davis (the photographer, who showed her work at Bell’s in the fall) here, and that Faith Bell will come and participate, because really I love that bookstore,” he said of his former employer. “There’s no competition; that’s what’s so encouraging about the community.”

“There are so few bookstores left,” Feldman added. “We kind of help each other out.”

Looking ahead, Feldman and Stone plan to continue making the space welcoming to event attendees, shoppers and casual passersby alike. 

“Yeah, people are sitting in the audience watching but oftentimes people just drift away and go and browse for books,” Stone said of Feldman’s dual role as a bookshop and venue. “You can still go off and be by yourself and get to hear this beautiful live music concert just sort of wafting through the air here … it’s quite a beautiful vibe, I think.”

Upcoming this weekend at Feldman’s are French Poetry Night with Flo on July 12, 6 p.m., and jazz with Colin Hamilton on July 13, 5 p.m. Admission for both events is pay-what-you-can. Feldman’s Books, 1075 Curtis St., Menlo Park; feldmansbooks.net.