the silver endpapers...

[bluecastle]

...it seems I'm not the only one who loves my friend with the bookstore... Someone started a "we love this bookstore and want to support it" facebook group yesterday when the news broke (or maybe it broke the day before, I'm rather muddled by the heat). Overnight the group has 1,300+ members! They had a meeting at the store last night which got about 100 attendees, and have another one tonight. I'm not sure ultimately whether anything be done. Cold hard facts of the case are that the store has been arrears in their rent for a while now, and the landlords decided to give them their 30 day notice.

But hopefully something can be done to either preserve the store in its current location or set up some way for it to reopen in another downtown location. The current store is just about one block from the center of campus and as such is the defacto meeting place downtown.

Good and bad on both sides, but important for my friend to know how much she is loved, and how needed a small independent bookstore/coffee shop/record (vinyl) store is to a college town. It is the only used book store in town, and the only non-chain not-aimed-at-students-buying-textbooks bookstore.

Hell, I mean, Harvey Pekar dropped by one day and stayed for a while signing books while he was out on his latest book tour, just as a for instance of the vitality of the place. This is a woman who when she purchased a bunch of books from an elderly woman looking to downsize, and found a first edition "On the Road" in amongst the boxes, returned it to the woman as it was like five times more valuable than the whole lot of books she'd just bought. She is good people...

So my fingers are crossed as we watch our community come together in some odd mash-up of You've Got Mail and It's a Wonderful Life.

Comments

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Please keep posting about the bookstore. This bookstore is a dream, and it would be so sad to see it lost. Sounds like it suffered when everyone was tight money-wise--what is the first to go, huh, but entertainment. :*(


You know, I rather love your posts. :)

[valancy-joy.livejournal.com]

n'awwwww. love ya back, y'know. :)

community is still mobilizing, and some fundraisers are in the works and the petitions are being put everywhere. Another meeting tonight, and the call is out for lawyery/finacey/real estatey types to advice in case something can be done either to keep them where they are, or to set up something for a future location.

Yeah, took a hit during the recession etc. and has been struggling, but just about to get back on feet and then this.

will keep you posted. I suspect the facebook solidarity group will hit 1500 folks soon. I think it's around 1400 now.

Slated to be discussed at the Borough Council meeting tomorrow night as well.

My hope is that some positive action results from all this ACTION, and that it's not just a bunch of yelling into the wilderness. *crosses fingers*

[used_songs]

That's so cool. I actually was thinking about your bookstore today (because I remember how painful it was when the independent women's/feminist/lesbian bookstore I used to hang out in closed down). Here's hoping!

[valancy-joy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the thoughts. Looking a bit hopeless in terms of keeping the same location and whatnot, and that's terrible, but hopefully the bookstore can be reborn and reinvented and continue to be a force for good in the community!