Is ABC Books Woke?

Company Overview

ABC Books is an independent bookstore in Springfield, Missouri, located on historic Route 66 and operating since 1989. It deals primarily in pre-read (used) books with some new titles mixed in, carrying a genuinely wide range of genres from theology to science fiction to cookbooks. As a long-running, family-style indie bookshop, it is a beloved local institution — the kind of store where browsing the shelves is half the experience and the staff know their inventory and their regulars personally.

Independent bookstores like ABC Books have survived decades of brutal competition from big-box chains and online giants by serving a loyal local readership and offering the character, curation, and human connection that mass retailers cannot replicate. More than three decades in business is a real achievement in this trade, and it speaks to a store that has earned its community's trust the old-fashioned way.

ESG & Sustainability

A used-and-new bookstore is sustainable almost by definition. Reselling pre-read books keeps them in circulation and out of landfills, extending the life of every volume and giving readers an affordable way to keep reading. But ABC Books does this as a matter of ordinary business and old-fashioned thrift, not as a corporate ESG campaign. It publishes no sustainability report and makes no political pledges; its environmental virtue is simply the practical reality of the secondhand book trade, which has been quietly recycling literature long before sustainability became a marketing slogan.

DEI Programs

There is no evidence of a formal DEI program at ABC Books, which is normal for a small independent shop. The store's remarkable breadth — from theology to sci-fi to cookbooks — reflects a genuine commitment to wide-ranging reading and customer interest rather than to any ideological agenda. It serves readers of all kinds by stocking a truly diverse range of subjects, the organic, reader-driven way, with the selection shaped by what its customers actually read rather than by a corporate diversity mandate.

LGBTQ+ Advocacy

ABC Books carries no Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index score and shows no record of activist Pride campaigns or political sponsorships. This is worth noting: while some large online book platforms heavily promote cause-based merchandising and seasonal activist campaigns, ABC Books as an independent shop presents itself simply as a place to find good books across many genres. That reader-first, refreshingly neutral posture is precisely what values-based book buyers are looking for in a bookstore.

Political Activity

The bookstore has no PAC, no disclosed corporate political contributions, and no lobbying activity. It is a small, locally owned business whose focus is selling books and serving readers, not funding political causes. A purchase here supports a bookshop, not a campaign or an advocacy group.

Consumer Impact

ABC Books earns a not-woke score as a classic independent bookstore that has served its community for more than three decades without trading its mission for activism. Shopping here supports a long-standing local small business and a Route 66 landmark rather than a corporate retailer with a social agenda. For readers who want a wide, genuinely diverse selection and a store that lets the books speak for themselves, ABC Books is a values-friendly destination worth supporting — and a model of how an independent bookshop can thrive by focusing on reading rather than on the politics of the moment.