By Alaina Leary
If you’re shopping for books to give as end-of-year or even as thank-goodness-2020-is-over gifts, consider shopping small and give back to an independent bookstore this season, since many are struggling due to the impact of the pandemic on sales. According to the American Booksellers Association, 20 percent of all independent bookstores in the US are in danger of closing; let’s support them. This list of US-based diverse-owned* bookstores is meant to be a starting place and a guide. If you have a local favorite, find out if they’re open and if they’re selling online or doing curbside pickup.
Our definition of diversity
We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.
*We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.
Black-owned bookstores
- ARKANSAS
- Pyramid Art Books (Little Rock, AR)
- ARIZONA
- Grassrootz Bookstore (Phoenix, AZ)
- CALIFORNIA
- Ashay By the Bay (Vallejo, CA)
- The Collective Oakland (Oakland, CA)
- EsoWon Books (Los Angeles, CA)
- Malik Books (Los Angeles, CA)
- Marcus Books (Oakland, CA)
- Old Capitol Books (Monterey, CA)
- Salt Eaters Bookshop (Los Angeles, CA)
- Underground Books (Sacramento, CA)
- COLORADO
- Shop at Matter (Denver, CO)
- CONNECTICUT
- Key Bookstore (Online – based in Hartford, CT)
- People Get Ready (New Haven, CT)
- DELAWARE
- MeJah Books (Claymont, DE)
- FLORIDA
- Cultured Books (St. Petersburg, FL)
- Pyramid Books (Boynton Beach, FL)
- GEORGIA
- 44th & 3rd (Atlanta, GA)
- Black Dot Cultural Center and Books (Lithonia, GA)
- Brave and Kind Bookshop | Libro.fm (Decatur, GA)
- For Keeps Books (Atlanta, GA)
- Medu Bookstore (Atlanta, GA)
- Nubian Bookstore (Morrow, GA)
- Shrine of the Black Madonna (Atlanta, GA)
- The Book Worm (Powder Springs, GA)
- The Listening Tree (Decatur, GA)
- ILLINOIS
- Afri-Ware Books (Maywood, IL)
- Frontline Books (Chicago, IL)
- Semicolon Bookstore (Chicago, IL)
- The Underground Bookstore (Chicago, IL)
- INDIANA
- Brain Lair Books (South Bend, IN)
- KANSAS
- Bliss Books & Wine (Kansas City, KS)
- KENTUCKY
- Wild Fig Coffee & Books (Lexington, KY)
- LOUISIANA
- Community Book Center (New Orleans, LA)
- MARYLAND
- Everyone’s Place (Baltimore, MD)
- MASSACHUSETTS
- Frugal Bookstore (Roxbury, MA)
- Olive Tree Books (Springfield, MA)
- The Million Year Picnic (Cambridge, MA)
- MICHIGAN
- Black Stone Bookstore and Cultural Center (Ypsilanti, MI)
- Detroit Book City (Southfield, MI)
- Nandi’s Knowledge Cafe (Highland Park, MI)
- Source Booksellers (Detroit, MI)
- MINNESOTA
- Babycake’s Book Stack (Twin Cities, MN)
- Black Garnet Books (Minneapolis, MN)
- Planting People Growing Justice Bookstore (Saint Paul, MN)
- MISSOURI
- Eye See Me Bookstore (University City, MO)
- Willa’s Books and Vinyl (Kansas City, MO)
- NEBRASKA
- Aframerican Bookstore (Omaha, NE)
- NEW JERSEY
- The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne, NJ)
- Source of Knowledge (Newark, NJ)
- NEW YORK
- The Bronx is Reading (Bronx, NY)
- Cafe Con Libros (Brooklyn, NY
- The Lit Bar (The Bronx, NY)
- Revolution Books (New York, NY)
- Sister’s Uptown Bookstore (New York, NY)
- Zawadi Books (Buffalo, NY)
- NORTH CAROLINA
- Liberation Station (Durham, NC)
- Shelves Bookstore (Charlotte, NC)
- OHIO
- Elizabeth’s Bookshop and Writing Centre (Akron, OH)
- Smith and Hannon Bookstore (Cincinnati, OH)
- OKLAHOMA
- Fulton Street Books and Coffee (Tulsa, OK)
- Nappy Roots Books (Oklahoma City, OK)
- OREGON
- Third Eye Books (Portland, OR)
- PENNSYLVANIA
- Amalgam Comics and Coffee (Philadelphia, PA)
- Uncle Bobbie’s (Philadelphia, PA)
- Hakim’s Bookstore (Philadelphia, PA)
- Harriet’s Bookshop (Philadelphia, PA)
- The Tiny Bookstore (Pittsburgh, PA)
- SOUTH CAROLINA
- Turning Page Bookshop (Goose Creek, SC)
- TEXAS
- Black Pearl Books (Austin, TX)
- The Dock Bookshop (Fort Worth, TX)
- Pan-African Connection (Dallas, TX)
- VIRGINIA
- Books and Crannies (Martinsville, VA)
- Harambee Books (Alexandria, VA)
- WASHINGTON
- L.E.M.S Bookstore (Seattle, WA)
- WASHINGTON DC
- ONLINE
Native- and Indigenous-owned bookstores
- HAWAII
- MINNESOTA
- Birchbark Books (Minneapolis, MN)
- NEW MEXICO
- Red Planet Books and Comics (Albuquerque, NM)
- SOUTH DAKOTA
- Bird Cage Book Store (Rapid City, SD)
- ONLINE
Latinx-owned bookstores
- ARIZONA
- Palabras Bilingual Bookstore (Phoenix, AZ)
- CALIFORNIA
- Booklandia (Oakland, CA)
- LA Librería (Los Angeles, CA)
- Libromobile (Santa Ana, CA)
- Makara Center for the Arts (Santa Ana, CA)
- My Corazon-Libros Y Cultura (Hanford, CA)
- Other Books (Los Angeles, CA)
- Sandcastle Tales (Del Mar, CA)
- Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural (Sylmar, CA)
- FLORIDA
- Third House Books (Gainesville, FL)
- NEW YORK
- Bronx Bound Books (Bronx, NY)
- The Bronx is Reading (Bronx, NY)
- Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn, NY)
- Chau Luna (Brooklyn, NY)
- Kew & Willow Books (Kew Gardens, NY)
- The Lit Bar (Bronx, NY)
- Word Up Community Bookshop/Libreria Communitaria (Washington Heights/Inwood, NY)
- NORTH CAROLINA
- Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews (Chapel Hill, NC)
- TEXAS
- The Storybook Garden (Weslaco, TX)
- VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- ONLINE
Asian-owned bookstores
- CALIFORNIA
- Arkipelago Books (San Francisco, CA)
- Eastwind Books (Berkeley, CA)
- The Lev (Los Angeles, CA)
- Philippine Expressions Bookstore (San Pedro, CA)
- GEORGIA
- Maomi Bookstore (Chamblee, GA)
- VARIOUS LOCATIONS
LGBTQ+-owned bookstores
- ARIZONA
- Changing Hands Bookstore (Tempe and Phoenix, AZ)
- CALIFORNIA
- Dog Eared Books (San Francisco, CA)
- Volumes of Pleasure Bookshoppe (Los Osos, CA)
- CONNECTICUT
- Burgundy Books (Old Saybrook, CT)
- FLORIDA
- Tombolo Books (St. Petersburg, FL)
- GEORGIA
- Charis Books and More (Decatur, GA)
- ILLINOIS
- Women & Children First (Chicago, IL)
- LOUISIANA
- Tubby & Coo’s (New Orleans, LA)
- MARYLAND
- Red Emma’s (Baltimore, MD)
- MASSACHUSETTS
- Womencrafts (Provincetown, MA)
- MONTANA
- Montana Book Company (Helena, MT)
- NEW YORK
- Bluestockings Bookstore, Cafe & Activist Center (New York, NY)
- Bureau of General Services—Queer Division (New York, NY)
- NORTH CAROLINA
- Firestorm Books & Coffee (Asheville, NC)
- WASHINGTON
- Kramerbooks & Afterwords (Washington, DC)
- WISCONSIN
- A Room of One’s Own Bookstore (Madison, WI)
- VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- ONLINE
Jewish-owned bookstores
- MASSACHUSETTS
- Israel Book Shop (Brookline, MA)
- NEW JERSEY
- Judaica Gallery (Highland Park, NJ)
- NEW YORK
- Eichlers (Brooklyn, NY)
- Feldheim (Nanuet, NY)
- Mekor Judaica (Brooklyn, NY)
- ONLINE
Muslim-owned bookstores
- PENNSYLVANIA
- Hakim’s Book Store (Philadelphia, PA)
- ONLINE
Do you know of a diverse-owned bookstore that should be on this list? Email Alaina at alainalavoie@diversebooks.org to be added!
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Alaina (Lavoie) is the communications manager of We Need Diverse Books. She also teaches in the graduate department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College and is a book reviewer for Booklist. She received a 2017 Bookbuilders of Boston scholarship for her work in the publishing industry. Her writing has been published in New York Times, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Allure, Healthline, Glamour, The Oprah Magazine, and more. She currently lives in Boston with her wife and their two literary cats. Follow her @AlainasKeys on Instagram and Twitter.
