Changing Hands Bookstore has changed locations three times in the past 30 years, but one thing hasn't changed: its relationship with ASU.
"It's good to be close to great thinkers," said Cindy Dach, the marketing and events manager for the bookstore.
The bookstore opened April 1, 1974 and celebrated its 30-year anniversary Thursday with treats and cake for customers, who also signed a gigantic birthday card.
Changing Hands was located on Fifth Street and Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe until 1978. Then it moved to a larger location around the corner on Mill Avenue, where it remained until the spring of 2000.
The current location at 6428 S. McClintock Drive opened in May 1998.
Dach said the bookstore had to leave its Mill Avenue location because of a lack of free parking and a variety of other expenses. But, she said, the store has maintained a strong relationship with ASU.
"Many students consider Changing Hands a second home, she said.
Ann Chatfield, public relations coordinator for Changing Hands, said both ASU faculty and students receive discounts from the store.
"We try to make it as easy as possible for students and faculty to enjoy what we have," said the ASU journalism graduate.
Chatfield added that many ASU professors sign their books at the store.
Throughout the years, Changing Hands also has featured book signings by many national figures, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Bob Sommer was one of the original founders of Changing Hands. He said the store has always appealed to the Tempe community because it is "a place to find good books on a budget.
Dach said the bookstore's goals were to be community-minded, foster independent thinking and make books cool.
Reach the reporter at jeremy.a.cluff@asu.edu.
