Reading Room : Bookstores: The recently relocated Midnight Special has more space and an expanded inventory. But its emphasis on progressive thought and far-ranging discussions is unchanged.

Longtime Midnight Special customers are a tenacious lot. Through economic highs and lows, war and rebellion, and the grimy, noisy Third Street Promenade Construction Year from Hell, they’ve continued to patronize their favorite political and social science bookstore. Now their loyalty has been rewarded--with the gift of space.

Thanks to the financial help of an anonymous benefactor, Midnight Special recently moved from its former 3rd Street location to roomy new quarters a block north. It is twice as large, with expanded inventory, plus what could be considered a hip 1990s version of a country store community gathering place--the new Midnight Special Cultural Center, housed in a separate 800-square-foot room inside the store.

But don’t look for a potbellied stove, cracker barrels or a game of checkers. This space, generally filled with folding chairs, is dedicated to the workshops, free discussions and readings that have been a Midnight Special tradition for years.

It’s an irony of opportunity and location that this bastion of ‘60s-style populism and progressive thought sits amid the sleek, pricey liveliness of 3rd Street’s current incarnation. Outside, the Promenade is thronged with tourists, yuppies and homeless people; street musicians peddle their own CDs. But inside the Midnight Special, the artists, writers, teachers and community activists calmly browse and buy, just as they’ve done for 21 years.

Margie Ghiz, former shop volunteer and owner since 1981, is delighted with the new digs, and the new Cultural Center. “Without our benefactor, there’s no way we’d be in this new store today,” she said. “He made it all possible.”

To celebrate the grand opening this month, the center is offering a variety of events, including an evening last week with political artist Robbie Conal, readings, a writer’s workshop and a Saturday morning children’s reading hour. Also resuming are the popular weekly discussion groups that began during the Gulf War, when customers listened and responded to rabbis, ministers, Egyptologists and an economist. This month, the discussions are focusing on the California budget crisis.

“Bookstores are community places, and they should be accessible to those who want to read and discuss issues,” Ghiz said. “People have a right to express their opinions and hear alternatives, and the center provides a forum for them to do that.”

Also in the offing are book signings, monthly art shows, daily noon-hour readings and discussions, all-day in-depth seminars, and ongoing Midnight Special forums for teachers, American Indians and other groups.

This ambitious schedule is one way for Midnight Special to attract customers and cope in an era when Los Angeles independent bookstores are being starved out of existence by national discount chains.

“Where the chains really hurt us is by discounting the same bestsellers we stock at full price,” Ghiz said. “We count on selling enough of them to subsidize our rare books that may sell only a few copies a year but are there for those who want them.

“Actually, though, I often send customers to discounters and so do other independent stores. Books are expensive, and if you can’t afford the full price, you should be able to get them for less elsewhere.”

Midnight Special began life as a tiny Venice shop in 1971. Ghiz credits its longevity to customer loyalty, restrained growth and volunteer help. Response to customer needs is also a factor.

“In many ways our customers designed this store,” Ghiz said. “We’ve added and expanded both our book sections and our events according to what they want.

“We do what we can to provide information that people can’t get elsewhere. . . . I try to hire people who are knowledgeable and passionate about their interests. They don’t just sell books, they’re also involved in social causes.”

That staff, which is predominantly female and minority and also includes a homeless person, helps plan events at the cultural center and collaborates on book lists and store statements about issues. “We’re not neutral,” Ghiz said. “We take a position on everything and a lot of people disagree with us, but we stress that anyone who comes in here should feel comfortable expressing their opinions.”

Center director Leslye Sneider notes: “The center, which is really an extension of the store, has a strong, diverse board of directors who are active in what’s going on politically and culturally in Los Angeles. When they combine efforts with our staff, we have a lot of expertise to draw on.”

Past events have included an observance of Disability Awareness Month, a series of homeless writers’ readings in conjunction with other independent bookstores and a forum on censorship in rock music.

“All these groups plan their own events,” Ghiz said. “I like to have them control the content because you find out what’s going on in a way you couldn’t if you called the shots.”

Midnight Special carries large sections on African-American and Asian-American studies, gender studies, politics, history, philosophy and literature. One long wall is devoted to the arts. Ghiz said the intelligence section, which features books about spying, conspiracies and cover-ups, outsells all others, with works about the savings-and-loan debacle especially popular. “People realize the government’s been lying to them, and the books in this section deal with that,” she said.

To attract trade from patrons of Promenade restaurants and movie theaters, Ghiz has zeroed in on subjects dear to baby boomers’ hearts, expanding the store’s cooking, gardening, self-help and children’s book sections. She also plans to add or increase business, computer science, science fiction and mystery sections.

Solidarity with other independent bookstores is a vital concern to Ghiz. Recently she was instrumental in organizing 14 independents to plan a Sept. 26 fund-raising event, Books Across L.A., to benefit the Aquarian bookshop, which was burned down in the April riot.

“With this event we’re going to show everyone that we matter, that bookstores are important,” Ghiz said. “There are 8 million people in this county and we could support 10 times as many bookstores. Independent stores realize that. We share the struggle to survive and the desire to increase readership and get people excited about books.”