57 23 w 39.73972 n 104.95639 w 39.73972 ; 104.95639 tattered cover book store inc. 16th st. location type private industry books founded 1971 headquarters 1628 16th street denver colorado u.s. 80202 1308 key people joyce meskis owner website tatteredcover.com the tattered cover is a bookstore in denver colorado and one of the largest independent bookstores in the united states . the tattered cover is open 7 days a week at all branches hosts prominent book signings and is known for its customer service . together the stores maintain an inventory of over half a million books . its lodo store houses an events space which can seat over 250 while its highlands ranch store can seat up to 400 and its colfax store can seat around 100 . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 colorado supreme court case 2 references 3 external links history edit the tattered cover opened in 1971 in the cherry creek district of denver as a small 950 sq ft 88 m2 . bookshop . it was purchased in 1974 by joyce meskis . between 1973 and 1983 it expanded seven different times and in 1986 it moved into and consolidated at a new location in cherry creek which remained open for over 20 years . 2 a second branch purchased in 1990 was renovated and opened for business in 1994 in denver s historic lodo lower downtown district . in 1995 the fourth story restaurant & bar opened at the cherry creek location . in november 2004 a third location opened in highlands ranch ; it lasted until april 2015 when it was moved to littleton . the cherry creek location closed in june 2006 and moved to the newly renovated long defunct lowenstein theater on denver s colfax avenue . the fourth story restaurant was shut down at that time . like many independent bookstores the tattered cover is a member of the american booksellers association and meskis served as president of that organization in the early 1990s . meskis is a former board member of the american booksellers foundation for free expression and is also the recipient of the william j. brennan jr. award from the the thomas jefferson center for the protection of free expression the pen newman first amendment award 3 the brandeis award from privacy international 4 and the american library association s john phillip immroth memorial award for intellectual freedom . 5 meskis announced the sale of the bookstore in 2015 to len vlahos and kristen gilligan . 6 colorado supreme court case edit in 2000 the store resisted on first amendment grounds a search warrant for records related to purchases made by a customer suspected of illegally manufacturing methamphetamine . the case made national news and was eventually decided in the store s favor by the colorado supreme court . 7 8 officers were attempting to establish a connection between the suspect and books they found on how to manufacture the drug . the purchase in question was later revealed to be of a book on japanese calligraphy . 9 references edit tattered cover book store information and related industry information from hoover s . hoover s. history of tattered cover . retrieved october 30 2015 . pen newman first amendment award . retrieved april 26 2010 . privacy international brandeis award . retrieved april 26 2010 . immroth memorial award winner announced american library association press release june 2002 . . retrieved april 26 2010 . horsley scott september 9 2015 . denver s tattered cover bookstore is focused on succession not just survival . morning edition . npr . american booksellers foundation for free expression 2002 04 08 . tattered cover victorious in battle against search warrant . free expression network . tattered cover v. city of thornton 44 p. 3d 1044 colo. 2002 . . bookseller reveals secret title . newsletter on intellectual freedom . the american library association . july 2003 . external links edit tattered cover s website v t e city and county of denver the mile high city about commerce demographics economy education fire history timeline geography landmarks music neighborhoods notable denverites police public schools public transportation street system radio television images government mayor michael hancock former mayors city council landmarks and culture 16th street mall avenue theater brown palace hotel cathedral basilica of the immaculate conception city park civic center colorado convention center colorado state capitol confluence park coors field d & f tower denver s downtown aquarium denver art museum denver botanic gardens denver mint denver museum of nature and science denver center for the performing arts denver public library denver zoo elitch gardens theme park ellie caulkins opera house sports authority field at mile high kirkland museum of fine & decorative art molly brown house pepsi center red rocks sakura square tattered cover union station wells fargo center wings over the rockies museum colleges and universities university of colorado denver metropolitan state university of denver community college of denver university of denver regis university sports franchises denver broncos colorado rockies colorado avalanche denver nuggets colorado rapids colorado mammoth denver outlaws category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title tattered cover & oldid 743429847 categories independent bookstores of the united stateslandmarks in coloradocompanies based in denver1971 establishments in the united statesprivately held companies based in coloradohidden categories coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 9 october 2016 at 16 33 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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