Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Last Tuesday, Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene hosted a talk with theauthor Kate Elizabeth Russell.
Few signs of anything amiss could be discerned.
Greenlight sent out an email to its customers noting that the moment has come to do more.
Along with most of the citys other indie bookstores, it was shutting its doors to the public.
But amid the shuttering of chains like Borders,the rise of the indie bookstorehas been a bright spot.
The cozy scene stood in stark contrast to the fear and uncertainty of the world outside the store.
This is the whole point, said Straub, looking at the families wistfully.
By then, she had made the difficult decision to cancel all events.
Were gonna be here, even if the rest of our staff is staying home, Straub said.
Im gonna need a crowbar to get my husband out of here.
Everyone had that half-guilty look on their face, like,Should I be here?
Should I be outside?
recalled Maria Herron, one of the stores founders.
But we talked about books, about poetry, and the relief and the rejuvenation was so palpable.
In the face of the prospect of social isolation, people were just so excited to be social.
Either way, they are planning on ramping up book delivery service on bikes.
Most other stores arent taking any chances.
It will be one of the only times in nearly a century that the store has gone dark.
(It also closed during Sandy and for two weeks after 9/11.)
Astoria Bookshop, in Queens, is offering books for pickup.
Indie bookstores are constantly stealing each others ideas, she said.
Theres a silver lining to all of this that we can reinvent how we talk about storytelling.
Ever dream of having Capitol Hill Books all to yourself?
Now it’s possible for you to.
Email us to reserve a one hour time slot.
Were talking about setting up virtual book tours, she said.
So far, he said, it had gone surprisingly well.
No one was buying travel guides, he said, but more customers were buying international fiction than usual.
Were committed to keeping our readers informed.Weve removed our paywall from essential coronavirus news stories.
