Where the Sidewalk Ends Bookstore was started in May 2005 by Joanne Doggart with her daughter Caitlin Doggart and has grown, with the dedication of an amazing staff, to be a fixture in the Chatham community.  We are proud of being an independent bookstore, where the books and displays stem from our own love of books, and ambiance is welcoming for whole families.

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January 2011 - Featured Magazine Article on Winter Reading Recommendations in Cape Women Online

May 2010 - Children's Annex Opens

April 2010 - Interior Setup of the Children's Annex by a fantastic team of staff, friends, family, and helping children!

March 2010 - May 2010 Expansion & Construction

A covered deck was added to connect our expanded children's section "The Children's Annex," a stroller-friendly, family-friendly place for pre-readers, filled with terrific read-aloud books and toys to foster imagination and storytelling.

2010 Featured in the Boston Globe as an example of the magical world of children's books - real physical books - as opposed to the e-readers article author Scott Kirsner was reviewing on vacation.

"I tried to stay out of bookstores on my vacation, to maximize my dependence on the e-readers, and was mostly successful. But I couldn’t keep my son out of Where the Sidewalk Ends, an independent bookstore in Chatham with a separate children’s wing. One of the books he wanted to look at was Scarry’s “Biggest Word Book Ever,” a hardcover volume nearly 30 inches wide when open on the floor. As he sat at the edge of its board-like pages, the book filled most of his field of vision with steam locomotives and pickle cars and backhoes. It was hard to imagine an e-book ever duplicating that experience."

May 2010 - First Annual Author Breakfast to Benefit WE CAN

Author Ann Hood speaks to a packed room at The Wayside Inn for the release of The Red Thread. Sales benefit the phenomenal WE CAN Organization, working to empower women in transition on Cape Cod.

April 2010 - Award Recipients

SCORE - the national small business association of advisors - and each Cape town's Chamber of Commerce teamed up to present a business in each town with the "Build a Better Mousetrap" Award. We were delighted to awarded the honor for Chatham in 2010. Thank you SCORE and the wonderful Chatham Chamber of Commerce, and Ed McDonald and Lisa Franz for their parts in bearing the good news! Chatham is an exceptional town and we are honored to be a part of it!  

January 2010 -  Featured Magazine Article on Winter Reading Recommendations in Cape Women Online

February 2009 - Boston Globe Arts & Entertainment Section's Shelf Talk features their Pick of the Week as our store's Staff Pick - Addition by Toni Jordan.

July 2008-  Author Literary Luncheon Series Begins

July 2008 - Fancy Nancy Tea Parties at the Captain's House Inn Begin

April 2008 - Joanne Doggart is awarded the Isaac Epstein Scholarship by the New England Independent Booksellers. Articles mentioned in Shelf Awareness and the Cape Cod Chronicle.

Summers 2007 - 2008 Sunday Evening Non-Fiction Talks

A surge in fantastic non-fiction books over these two summers led us to add a series of Author Non-Ficton Talks includes fascinating lectures by leading Geographer Dr. Harm de Blij, Beatrix Potter expert Betsy Bray, coyote researcher Jonathan Way, photographer Chris Linder, and journalist Wendy Williams on Cape Wind.

Summer 2007 - Children's Theme Party Story Times Begin

including Shark Expert Greg Skomal's assisants for SHARK WEEK educational story time and Brian Lies' Bats at the Beach, which debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List that summer!

2007 Featured in article in Bookselling This Week by the American Booksellers Association

May 2005 - Memorial Day Grand Opening!

April 2005 - Paperwork completed! We have a Bookstore called Where the Sidewalk Ends....and we have one month until the busy summer season! Thank you to the terrific workers,  friends, & family who pitched in during dizzying hours to create our dream bookstore.