Gazette, The (Colorado Springs): Another stack to browse through/ More independents around the West

You know those shelves way up by the ceiling in bookstores. They're for the overstock - where store owners tuck away a few extra titles that don't fit on the main shelves.

I feel that way about my list of great independent bookstores. I can't help shoving one or two more onto the shelf.

I'm motivated to keep throwing out names because good independent bookstores need nurturing. Even the most robust can go belly up. Consider what happened to Earthling Books in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Earthling was something of a city institution for 25 years. I would grab a chair near the fireplace and sit with a pile of books while dulcimer-laced new age music floated about the store's woody interior.

Long before Barnes & Noble and Starbucks went into business together, Earthling had a cafe with lattes and pastries. Signs gently warned cafe customers that the nearby newspapers were FOR SALE - not for browsing over a caffeine fix. The rule was widely ignored and spottily enforced, as the wrinkled refolded copies of the San Francisco Chronicle on the newsstand attested.

In mid-1993, a huge Barnes & Noble opened up just down the street. Then came a Borders. Earthling finally called it quits in 1998.

There are people who will argue that customers voted with their feet (and credit cards). Prices were lower at Barnes & Noble than at Earthling. National chains have economies of scale that even a huge independent like Earthling couldn't match.

The arrival of the chains briefly meant more choice for locals. But the death of Earthling robbed visitors of another piece of local color. I don't shop at Barnes & Noble or Borders when I go to Santa Barbara for the simple reason that they carry just about the same stuff as their stores near my home.

So, a few more independent bookstores to seek out if you find yourself in the neighborhood:

Tempe, Ariz.: Changing Hands Bookstore. The Phoenix area is dominated by chains, but this store specializing in used books has carved out a following near the campus of Arizona State University. 6428 S. McClintock Drive; (480) 730-0205; www.changinghands.com.

Orange, Calif.: The Bookman. Except for a few rare military books and a smattering of other tough-to-track titles, there's nothing here but used books. Thousands of them - spilling across two strip mall storefronts. One of the great hidden pleasures of Southern California, Bookman is staffed by a literature-loving staff that won't make you feel like a doofus if you're looking for a Sydney Sheldon potboiler on your way to the beach (one of the two gigantic rooms is nothing but well-thumbed paperbacks). 840 N. Tustin Ave.; (714) 538-0166; www.ebookman.com.

Santa Cruz, Calif.: Bookshop Santa Cruz. Reflects the laid-back atmosphere of the college town that often seems to have not heard that the Flower Power era ended three decades ago. 825 Front St., (831) 423-0900.

Menlo Park, Calif.: Kepler's Books & Magazines. Stanford University-area shop that's a good place to pile up some reading for one of the many cloudy days on the San Francisco peninsula. 1010 El Camino Real; (650) 324-4321; www.keplers. com.

Berkeley, Calif.: Moe's Books. Fans say it's better than nearby Cody's. I'm not so sure, but it's another top stop on my bookstore trek around the south side of the University of California campus. 2476 Telegraph Ave.; (510) 849-2087; www.moesbooks.com.

San Francisco, Calif.: A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books. Another San Francisco classic with a personable staff and a deep, eclectic collection. 601 Van Ness Ave.; (415) 441-6670; www.bookstore.com.

Las Vegas: Albion Books. If you've had a good run at the blackjack table and are looking to buy some first editions, this is the place to look. Kidding aside, a very good used bookstore in a city that seems to be owned by the big chains. Won "best used bookstore" in the 2002 Best of Las Vegas prizes awarded by the Las Vegas Review- Journal. 2466 E. Desert Inn Road.; (702) 792-9554.

Salt Lake City: Sam Weller's Books. It's been a few years since I passed through its doors, but recent visitors tell me that Tony Weller is hard at work at the business started by his grandparents in 1925 and nourished for decades by his father, Sam. Reflecting its ties to the community, the store recently hosted a talk by Will Bagley, author of "Blood of the Prophets," a book on the 1857 massacre of a wagon train. 254 S. Main St.; (800) 333-7269; www.samwellers. com.