private industry retail founded pasadena november 14 1894 founder a.c. vroman headquarters pasadena california products books website www.vromansbookstore.com vroman s bookstore an independent bookstore . it is the oldest and largest independent bookstore in southern california . 1 founded in 1894 by adam clark vroman the original vroman s book and photographic supply store was located at 60 e. colorado st in pasadena california . mr. vroman loved books and loved giving back to his community . mr. vroman was also a passionate photographer specializing in scenes of the american west and his portraits of native americans . when mr. vroman died in 1924 he left the bookstore to longtime employees . 2 vroman s bookstore holds an important place in southern california s history . for many years vroman s was the largest bookstore west of the mississippi and it continues to be the oldest and largest independent bookstore in southern california . during world war ii vroman s donated and delivered books to japanese americans interned at nearby camps returning on several occasions despite being fired upon by camp guards . through the years it has continued to be an independently owned family business . in 2009 vroman s bought another beloved independent bookstore book soup in west hollywood after its owner died and the store was in danger of closing . vroman s is also famous for its world class author signings and events . the store hosts over 400 free community events a year including children s storytimes trivia nights craft classes bake offs and special launch parties and has hosted such authors as president bill clinton president jimmy carter irving stone upton sinclair ray bradbury david sedaris salman rushdie walter mosely joan didion barbara walters anne rice neil gaiman and justice sonia sotomayor . in 2008 vroman s was honored with the publishers weekly bookseller of the year award . recent history edit in 2008 vroman s was named bookseller of the year by publishers weekly an international news magazine of book publishing . 3 4 external links edit vroman s bookstore references edit mcmanis sam april 27 2014 the new old pasadena may just bowl you over the sacramento bee vroman s history vroman s bookstore . www.vromansbookstore.com . retrieved 2016 04 11 . vroman s wins pw s bookseller of the year 3 11 2008 9 00 00 am publishers weekly apostol jane . vroman s of pasadena a.c. vroman 1994 . coordinates 34 08 46 n 118 08 10 w 34.1461 n 118.1361 w 34.1461 ; 118.1361 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vroman % 27s bookstore & oldid 714847395 categories independent bookstores of the united statescompanies based in pasadena californiabookstores in californiacompanies based in los angeles county californiahidden categories coordinates not 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 12 april 2016 at 05 30 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view