The original buildersBOOKSOURCE
opened in 1982 and caters to the
wonderfully over-educated contractors and design folks of the SF East Bay
Area. It is located two stores north of Hearst Street on Berkeley's fashionable
Fourth Street.
Easy to reach from Interstate 80: exit at University Avenue, first
possible left onto Sixth Street, next left onto Hearst Street, two blocks
back toward the Interstate, right onto Fourth Street. Free parking across
from store.
Ownership / Staff
George and Sally Kiskaddon opened buildersBOOKSOURCE in 1982. George's background
had been construction management, real estate, while Sally's was people
management, education and literature. Before opening the store they found
that it was nearly impossible to find books and resources regarding the
construction and design trades--whether for themselves at home, or for
their professional lives. Their idea was to create a central location in
which to find books, reference materials and software (we have in-store
software demos) for home builders, architects, contractors, do-it-yourselfers,
and consumers. One used to be forced to make myriad trips to bookstores
and government publishing offices to find necessary information. Now it
can be found under one roof--
It goes beyond selling books, though. Not long ago a contractor
came in with a question about design for which we had no book. Another
customer at the counter, an architect, was able to answer the question--
their conversation lasted about twenty minutes. It was not a chance meeting:
we want to bring both sides of building together. Facilitate connections.
We are hoping that this next phase of the store's development will build
upon past successes. It seems right-- hypertext and the WWW. Will it work
as well as conversations at the counter?
Raison d'Etre
It is a fact that "Good Design" cannot exist without "Good Construction"
and we don't get much argument that "Good Construction" without "Good Design"
is equally pointless.
Thus we continue to see the DESIGN and CONSTRUCTION fields are
mutually dependent...
Yet they remain separate-- physically, academically, often intellectually,
but no longer virtually...
builders BOOKSOURCE exists to
bridge these gaps, particularly the virtual ones. It is our mission to
facilitate connections and the subsequent flow of information between those
who design and those who implement designs.
Staff Picks
Mid-Century By the Bay - A Celebration of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950s and 1960s.
