About Circle Books

Circle Books opened its doors in July, 1999, at 478 John Ringling Boulevard, a highly visible location on the only thoroughfare linking the mainland and downtown Sarasota to St. Armands Circle, a favorite place for local residents and a tourist Mecca known worldwide for its upscale shops, fine dining and luxurious environment. Circle Books is the sole bookstore serving the affluent markets of St. Armands, Lido and Longboat Key and has earned its reputation as a unique and valuable resource within the Sarasota community.

From its first day, the central tenet of Circle Books' business philosophy has been a return to the traditional strengths of the independent bookstore - a knowledgeable staff capable of answering patrons' questions and offering guidance in their reading selections, responsiveness to customer interests and needs, a friendly, unhurried ambiance and commitment to customer satisfaction that has disappeared with the emergence of chain bookstores.

Circle Books is a generalist bookstore, but an emphasis is placed upon children's books, genre and literary fiction and Floridiana. Because the store hosts one of the most active author appearance programs in the state of Florida, Circle Books also maintains a large stock of signed first editions by some of the country's most notable authors. Visitors should keep in mind that Circle Books is actively dedicated to outstanding and individual customer service and, therefore, offers an array of special services of interest to readers, educators, writers, researchers and the community at large.

Circle Books is a New York Times reporting bookstore

Circle Books is a Book Sense™ bookstore