Left Bank Books

Left Bank Books opened in 1969 by a group of graduate students at Washington University who wanted to create a place where one could find all kinds of literature. They are the oldest and largest independently-owned full-line bookstore in St. Louis, and they offer a full-line of new and used books, gifts, cards, toys and services. Their mission is to spark public conversation by curating an intelligent, relevant, culturally diverse selection of books.

Left Bank is located at Euclid and McPherson in the historic Central West End neighborhood and is located to several public transportation services. Left Banks is a cultural institution as well as a retail business. In that spirit, they produce over 300 events per year, most of which are free and open to the public.

Left Bank Books strives to be a good neighbor and, like many locally-owned businesses, gives back to its community. Besides reinvesting three times more of our revenue locally than non-local chain stores reinvest, they also give a lot of organic support to grass roots and non-profit organizations through donations of gift certificates, percent of sales, book fairs and even free event programming. In addition, they host several BIPOC and LGBTQ+ affirming spaces such as Well-Read Black Girl Book Club, Banned Books Club: LGBTQ+, Gay Men's Reading Group, and Lesbian Reading Group.