Washington Heights Raises $8K To Keep Local Bookstore In Business

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A community bookstore closed for months during the coronavirus pandemic is asking for the public's help to stay afloat.

Word Up Community Bookshop, also known as Librería Comunitaria, started a GoFundMe last week to help cover its costs beyond the end of the month, when the store says it will run out of funding after the financial strain of the pandemic.

So far, the fundraiser has brought in more than $8,000 of the store's $75,000 goal.

"We are asking for your contributions now so that we can remain safely closed and healthy as an organization until we can responsibly reopen," the store wrote. "We want to do right by our community by staying closed for as long as needed, to protect our volunteers and our customers."

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Word Up, which is the headquarters for the nonprofit Seven Stories Institute, closed its doors on March 13, shortly before New York City began its shelter-in-place order.

With online events, book sales and some relief funding, the store has been able to keep up with its expenses, including salaries for its one part-time and two full-time staff members, according to the GoFundMe.

But, the strain of not selling at the store or at in-person events, the store's biggest money-maker, has made it so that funding is quickly running out, Word Up said.

"...We are still facing significant losses without our usual sales from in-store and offsite events, like school book fairs and literary conferences throughout the city where we have been booksellers for years," the store wrote. "While we have a mix of income streams, earned income from book sales is our highest."

Contributions to the GoFundMe will cover losses from the pandemic, payroll for the three staff members, occupancy costs for the Amsterdam Avenue storefront and getting ready for summer and fall events that are in the works, the store said.

Word Up was started in 2011 as part of the nonprofit's volunteer-run collective, which aims to provide books to communities that do not otherwise have access to them due to socioecomonics, geography, language and other factors, according to the organization.

"We know it is a tough time for everyone, and that there are a number people and organizations who could also use help," the store wrote. "If you are able to extend any support to us, we would be ever grateful. We plan to continue our work for many years to come, and to show up for each other en los tiempos tan difíciles."

The GoFundMe is one several fundraisers that have been set up to help New York City's businesses during the coronavirus stay-at-home order. Inwood's Capitol Diner also recently started a GoFundMe.

Local business improvement districts have also thrown their efforts behind small businesses by keeping track of which are still open, if only for delivery, and how best to help them.

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