Thank you for your support! We are so excited to open our doors to the public for browsing and look forward to being able to take care of our community’s book needs and each other once again. Staff and customer safety remains paramount and we are approaching our reopening with the same flexibility, patience, and innovation with which we have always approached our operations. We are committed to upholding safety standards while also providing our community with long-missed browsing opportunities.  

We’ve compiled a few frequently asked questions below. If your question is still not answered by these responses, please write to info@semcoop.com or call us at 773-752-4381 and we will reply to your inquiry within one to two business days.

Thank you again for everything you are doing on behalf of the Seminary Co-op community. It means so much to us.

With gratitude,

The Seminary Co-op and 57th Street Books

What are your hours?

You can find our store hours listed on our Hours & Contact Information page. 

How do I order books from you?

Though the Seminary Co-op Bookstore is now open to the public, you can still place orders directly on our website. Search by ISBN (without any hyphens!), author, or title to find just what you're looking for. Or you can browse through our holiday guides, Front Table booklets, 2021 Notables, newsletter archives (kids and adults), and featured new releases to stumble upon new reads.  

If you are having trouble navigating our website, do send us an email (info@semcoop.com) or leave a voicemail (773-752-4381), and we will get back to you in one to two business days. 

Are you doing curbside pickup? 

Yes! You can find further information about curbside here. Curbside pickup is available on all orders. We are, as always, glad to ship anywhere as well.

What are your browsing rules?

• Masks, worn over nose and mouth, are required for the entire duration of your stay. 
• Please sanitize hands upon entry, there is a hand sanitizer station at the entrance. 
• Maintain 6 feet of distance from people who are not in your pod. Be attentive and mindful of the people around you. 
• The store features lots of nooks and crannies. Be mindful as you turn corners to avoid intersecting with someone. 
• Only one person per bookshelf cubicle. 
• At the moment, we are not offering chairs for reading, but if you are in need of a chair for a physical accommodation, please let us know. 

How can I give feedback?

We are constantly evolving our processes and are so grateful for customer feedback! To submit feedback you can fill out the electronic feedback form here, submit a physical comment card at our Seminary Co-op location, or email us directly at info@semcoop.com.

Why is the store different?

As in many other spaces, the pandemic has forced us to adapt our strategies and our physical space. In order to safely accommodate in-person browsing as well as fulfill online orders, we have had to think creatively about our shelves. What is browsable currently is a careful selection of books from our most popular sections. We can assure you that our commitment to books and the browsing experience remains wholly intact. We believe the current set-up offers browsing for nearly all readers. We will have updated maps, plenty of signage, and booksellers available to assist in finding any books that you’re looking for.

As we rebuild our collection, you can continue to make use of our extensive online browsing tools, including newsletters and catalogs, to order things you might not be seeing in the store.

When are you doing events or storytime?

Our commitment to our stores and to our community is to support a long-term strategy for survival. While public health concerns remain, our decision to suspend in person events and programming is also financial. Rest assured we will let our customers know as soon as we are ready to begin programming events again! Right now, you can still browse our upcoming virtual events, our weekly newsletters, and our archive of Children’s Newsletters all on our website.