Beyond BookTok: Boston's Booksellers and Librarians on the Front Lines of Community Engagement

by Jessica A. Kent | July 10, 2026

BookTok. Celebrity book clubs. Newspaper book reviews. Literary influencers. It seems like there are too many voices contributing to the book conversation these days. But the local booksellers and librarians connecting readers to books, tracking trends, and building community every day are the ones we should be listening to.

On March 18, 2026, as part of the preview night of the Bow Market Book Fair, the Cambridge | Somerville Independent in partnership with the Somerville Media Center hosted "Getting the Story Out: Sellers and Librarians on How to Connect Readers and Books."

The panel discussion featured Christina Pascucci Ciampa, Founder and Owner at All She Wrote Books; Lara Hearn, Manager at Side Quest Books & Games; Brigid Black, Community Services Librarian at the Somerville Public Library; Zachary Bond, Program and Events Coordinator at the Cambridge Public Library; Kaliisha Cole, Manager at Porter Square Books; and Lily Rugo, Marketing Manager at Harvard Book Store. The discussion was moderated by Marc Levy from the Cambridge | Somerville Independent.

Here’s what they had to say.

Read the full article with a Literary Boston subscription.