By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

City Books, located in Allegheny West, is celebrating its 40th anniversary on Aug. 10. Local authors will be on hand to perform book signings, and drinks and refreshments will be served throughout the day.

“It’s going to be pretty low-key, but we’ve been doing a lot of social media about it,” said Arlan Hess, the owner of the store.

Authors performing signings during the day include Shannon Reed and Cameron Barnett.

City Books got its start in 1984, and was first located on the Southside. It was founded by Ed Gelblum, a professor of philosophy at Duquesne University.

Hess first came into contact with the store when she started shopping there as a college student. She went on to become a college professor herself, teaching at Washington & Jefferson College — located in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Later, Hess learned that City Books would be going out of business. Not wanting to be a professor anymore, she reached out to Gelblum about taking over the business, which she did in 2015.

City Books was then moved to the Northside at its present address, 908 Galveston Ave., where it has remained ever since.

While the move to the Northside was a downsizing for City Books, Hess said it was necessary to give the store a long term home. However, the move did come with several advantages in terms of location.

“The neighborhood it’s in now, Allegheny West, is so close to the museums and the Science Center and great restaurants and breweries and wineries that people from out of town come to Pittsburgh, stay in the Northside and never leave.”

“It’s a microcosm of the best things the city has to offer,” she later added.

Hess said her proudest accomplishment as the owner of City Books was starting the Writer in Residence program in 2020. The program allows up and coming writers to work on their books at the store for a minimum of three to five hours per week. In exchange, the writers get a discount off books at the store, a quiet space to work and occasionally a small stipend, among other benefits.

Around 19 writers have gone through the residency program, and Hess said several have gone on to “very impactful roles” in city writing groups, or in publishing or performing.

As for the future, Hess said the business is “steaming along,” with this past June being one of the best months in the store’s history. The store is also surprisingly popular on the Internet, with 130,000 followers on TikTok.

“In many ways we are known outside of the city more than we’re known inside the city,” Hess said.