San Francisco bookstore named one of the nation’s best: report

(KRON) – A San Francisco bookstore that has been in business for more than seven decades was named one of the best independent bookstores in the nation, according to Time Out Magazine.

The culture magazine called City Lights Bookstore a “pivotal hub for the Beat generation,” which was a cultural and literary movement in the 1950s. Per the bookshop’s website, City Lights declared its “commitment to free intellectual inquiry.”

Founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1953, City Lights was the nation’s first all-paperback bookstore. The bookstore now offers hardcovers and paperbacks from all of the major publishing houses. 

Per City Light’s website, they have a plethora of genres, including poetry, fiction, translations, politics, history, philosophy, music, spirituality and more. The bookstore’s staff even assists with the selection of the books.

Located in SF’s North Beach neighborhood, the address is 261 Columbus Ave.

Out of 16 independent bookstores, City Lights was ranked in ninth place. Second-hand bookstore Verbatim Books in San Diego and Los Angeles’s new and used bookshop The Last Bookstore also made the list.