Left Bank Books

Left Bank Books is an independent bookstore located at 399 N. Euclid Street in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. It is the oldest, independently operated bookstore in St. Louis. It was founded by students in 1969 as a leftist collective to sell underground, counter-cultural, feminist, and anti-establishment books, newspapers, and magazines—-the first to do so in the St. Louis region. It was the first bookstore with its name in the United States, and the first exhibiting gallery for children's book illustrator Mary Engelbreit. Left Bank Books sponsors reading groups, book signings, author appearances, and community literary activities. In 2015 the Washington Post named it one of the best bookstores in the United States and in 2017 Real Simple magazine has called Left Bank Books the best bookstore in the state of Missouri.