Bookstores in Ann Arbor, MI

In 1956 the store was at 37 Fountain n.w. and was run by Robert Mallory. In 1945 it was called The Bookman and run by David Bulst.

On pg 7 of http://www.historygrandrapids.org/uploads/files/document/IoniaNW.pdf#page=6&zoom=auto,-16,153 there is a photo of Steketee's on Ionia at Fountain. Would the building on the left of Stek's possibly be the building I'm looking for?

It is to the right in that shot, across Fountain. Here is the section of that site with no info on the Shephard Building but as you can see from the numbers that is where it was. http://www.historygrandrapids.org/document/2665/fountain-nw

Pete is correct. Alas, looking at the dark site, when the Camera Shop collection was handed over to the museum it was apparently kind of a hail Mary event. The collection could just as well have been dumped. As it is, the documentation didn't seem to survive, so it's not know what was in the collection in the first place. Then, many people apparently picked over the collection over the years and walked off with many. One has to believe they had a good eye for what to steal. What we have now is the usual "better than nothing" situation, where we get a partial glimpse into the past, but like not as good a one as was possible once. Every word of this applies to the Robinson collection as well. I don't know all the details, but was told by someone who helped physically transport the collection to the library that whoever ended up owning the collection said, in effect, "buy the collection or it will be rendered for the silver on the glass negatives." This is the reality of how close the collections came to not existing today at all. In the 1970's and thereabouts people mostly didn't value history like the post "Antiques Roadshow" generation does. One was suspected of looking for for skeletons in closest if too many questions were asked. "What do you want to know that for?" was an often heard counter question heard in my youth. It just seemed odd to be interested in such things. Not so much today....

It was between Ottawa and Ionia on the north side. The Penn Club was on the corner of Fountain and Ottawa in the same block. There was a building on the east end of the block called the Shepherd Building, where the parking ramp is now. I don't know if 37 was in one of those buildings or not.

I think it was 17 Fountain n.w. in this 1895 Sanborn. In that block the numbers not only changed they changed direction. It was in the Shepherd Block. http://mygrandrapids.info/nt.hold/frontpage/3%20 above.jpg

You can see the tops of the Shepherd Block behind Steks in this aerial. https://www.flickr.com/photos/starwars/8409261186/sizes/z/

You can see the front of the Shepherd Block in this shot. https://www.flickr.com/photos/18412933@N07/11019904773/in/pool-historicgr/

Looks like it is gone in this 70 s shot, replaced by the Penn Club expansion and surface parking. The surface parking was replaced by a ramp eventually. https://www.flickr.com/photos/18412933@N07/4099306101/sizes/l

Double click on this shot. I wish I could mark it with an x for you put I can't. In the lower half of the shot, just left of center you can see the front of the section of north side of Fountain west of Ionia where it was located. Unfortunately you are looking at the back of most everything else. When I went to JC the old Lear Building was the West Building. It would have been just a block west of there. https://www.flickr.com/photos/18412933@N07/11019904773/sizes/l

It's in Ann Arbor but I say https://www.twitter.com/vaultofmidnight

Try Detroit Comics. They have one in Ferndale and I've heard good things from my girlfriend