history & Mission
Since 2001, our family business has worked to transform our community by providing a welcoming space for the discussion & exchange of ideas about books, politics, arts & culture, and history.
Check out our critically-acclaimed line-up of NATIONALLY-TOURING AUTHORS, shop & order SECONDHAND ACADEMIC BOOKS from our used book warehouse, browse & select NEW BOOKS curated by our new books team, or PLAN YOUR VISIT to our award-winning bookstore-cafe, with thousands of new, used, rare, & discount books available.
"Simply the Best Independent Bookstore" in the region since 2004.
Proud to have been named Publishers’ Weekly Independent Bookstore of the Year in 2023.
We affirm the American Booksellers’ Association’s longstanding, historic commitment to the Freedom of Expression, and the Freedoms to Publish and Read — now more than ever. Along with international organizations representing authors, publishers, booksellers and librarians, we urge governments and citizens worldwide to ensure these freedoms are respected in law and in practice. We invite you to join with us and the American Library Association to UNITE AGAINST BOOK BANS: “The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack.” On June 25th, 1953, America’s librarians, publishers, and booksellers came together to say that we trust the people of this nation to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. 73 years later, we still trust them to make their own decisions. Read the full Freedom To Read Statement here.
Our store has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion that we demonstrate in a variety of ways, including ensuring representation in our inventory and equity in our business practices. At the same time, we may carry some titles that offend some people or that may seem to some people to be counter to that commitment. We believe a diverse selection of books is crucial to a bookstore’s role of sharing ideas to bring people together, helping individuals see themselves in the stories of others, enhancing empathy and understanding of differences, and providing diverse viewpoints to broaden our perspectives. If you disagree with our curation, we welcome constructive and productive feedback conducive with our values and appreciate your understanding that we won’t respond to hatred, threats, or harassment about what we carry or don’t carry or the authors we invite to speak. We believe our role is to make books available and we trust that you will make your own decisions about which of these books you choose to read or not to read and let others do the same.
International Statement On the Freedom of Expression, and the Freedoms to Publish and Read
With the core purpose of providing access to a wide variety of written works for all, we have come together to support the freedoms to express, publish and read. It is our belief that society needs enlightened citizens who, based on accurate knowledge and information, make choices and participate in democratic progress. Authors, publishers, booksellers and libraries have a role to play in this which should be recognized, valued, and enabled.
True freedom to read means being able to choose from the broadest range of books sharing the widest range of ideas. Unrestrained communication is essential to a free society and a creative culture but carries with it the responsibility to resist hate speech, deliberate falsehoods and distortion of facts. Authors, publishers, booksellers and libraries make an essential contribution to guaranteeing this freedom.
Subject to the limits set by international human rights law and standards, authors must have guaranteed freedom of expression. Through their work we understand our societies, build empathy, overcome our prejudices and reflect on provocative ideas.
Equally, booksellers and librarians must be free to present the full range of works, across the ideological spectrum, to all. They should not have that freedom constrained by governments or local authorities, individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large, even when this is done in the name of the ‘community’ or of its majority.
For booksellers and librarians to present the broadest range of written works, there must be the freedom to publish. Publishers must be free to publish those works which they believe important, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or might even be considered offensive by some in particular groups.
It is the responsibility and mission of publishers, booksellers and librarians, through their professional judgement, to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing everyone with access to authors’ works. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not necessarily endorse every work they make available. While individual publishers and booksellers make their own editorial decisions and selections, access to writings should not be limited on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
The risk of self-censorship due to social, political or economic pressures remains high, affecting every part of the chain from writer to reader. Society must create the environment for authors, publishers, booksellers and librarians to fulfil their missions freely.
We therefore call on governments and all other stakeholders to help protect, uphold and promote the three above freedoms – of expression, and to publish and read – in law and in practice.
"Every Booklover Should Visit"
"In 2001, when Catherine Lawrence and husband Eric Papenfuse (now Mayor Papenfuse) opened The Midtown Scholar Bookstore, more than a few residents of Harrisburg’s Midtown neighborhood raised their eyebrows. ... But by 2009, the store had become a major catalyst for change in the neighborhood and had moved from an old post office into a series of interconnected buildings, one of them a 1920s-era cinema. Today, The Midtown Scholar has become a veritable marketplace of ideas, an exceptional bookstore with a coffee bar to boot. Come for the literature, stay for the conversation."
— Carson VAUGHAN, Travel + Leisure, January 27, 2017
C-sPaN Interview for BOOK TV
VIDEO TOUR with the owners, October 18, 2016
A Community Gathering Place
"By all accounts, the Midtown Scholar has had a tremendous impact on this neighborhood. But just how did this remarkable bookstore end up here?
The story begins at Yale University where two bookworm academics met as graduate students. He was Eric Papenfuse, studying American history. She was Catherine Lawrence, studying British history. Sparks flew when they discovered their mutual love of books.
... 'We believe books transform,' says Lawrence. 'Ideas change people's minds and affect people's directions and sensibilities - tie people together or fracture them apart - and so, books transform.'
The vision of Mayor Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence for a bookstore called the Midtown Scholar has also had a transforming role, helping change the face of the community where it is located."
—Cary Burkett, "Making and Re-Making Midtown," WITF-FM Radio Interview, October 15, 2015
"Worth The Trip"
“A road trip, clearly, was called for. I tend to ask myself, in moments of indecision, not what Charlie Sheen would do, but what Willie Nelson or Christopher Hitchens would do. [....] From there we headed, the next morning, two hours south to Harrisburg to visit (for the Hitchens aspect of the trip) the palatial Midtown Scholar used bookstore, one of America’s largest academic used bookstores. A visit here is an essentially religious experience. Vaut le voyage, as the Michelin guides like to say.”
— Dwight Garner, New York Times, December 22, 2013
At The Last Great Book Sale
"Eric Papenfuse and his wife, Catherine Lawrence, who run Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, Pa., hoped to go home with about 30,000 books. Citing Harrisburg’s profound financial troubles and its potential to become a 'ghost town,' Mr. Papenfuse called Mr. McMurtry an inspiration.
'Archer City is the story of trying to revitalize a town,' he said. 'We’re looking to take Larry’s model and bring it to Pennsylvania.'
— John Williams, New York Times, August 13, 2012