Stop the Presses!
In what I hope is just the beginning of city and municipal support for independent booksellers all across this land, the City of San Francisco, partnering with nonprofit Working Solutions and the Small Business Development Center, awarded grants to 11 bookstores.
You heard it right. 11 bookstores receiving grants from the city they reside in to keep up the good work. The grants range from $2-12,000 and are as much for the role bookshops play as a social hub then as “simply places to purchase reading material.”
If that doesn’t seem like a big enough gift from the book gods the bookstores will also receive “city services including technical assistance on marketing, human resource consulting, and help negotiating long-term leases.”
According to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, there are 57 independent bookstores in San Francisco that together generate more than $9.8 million in sales, create and retain more than 100 jobs, host more than 40 free community events each month, and have been in business for an average of 21 years.
Here’s the list of recipients:
Which city is next?
More at Mission Local
h/t Shelf Awareness