Florida's Only Feminist Bookstore!
Twice in the past two weeks a customer has entered our store. I greet them with the standard “Hi, How are you today?”.
“Pause”
“I’m here, I’m finally here”.
Ok, so now I am intrigued. “Are you from Gainesville?”
“No, I’m from…”
One of them was from Chicago, Illinois the other from California. Both of them had been waiting years to visit our store. One asked me “Do you know there aren’t any of these left anymore?” “My friends back home don’t understand what they are missing” “Do you have goddess merchandise?” “See my pendant? My son bought it for me from your store several years ago.” “Wow, I can’t believe I am finally here!”
The other told me about friends who were personal friends of the Obama’s. About the neighborhood gatherings and dinner parties where they talked about the idea of running for president. About the ideas, hopes and dreams that have now become our national reality.
Another customer comes in. She lives in Washington, D.C.. Works for a political profiling organization. Says every time she visits Gainesville, she has to stop by Wild Iris. She sees T-shirts painted by a local artist with images of Obama. Talks about the possibility of getting one to wear to the inauguration. She talks of hope, talks of excitement for our future.
I am humbled. I am amazed. I am thankful I’ve been able to be a part of this wonderful place for the past four years. I think about what it takes to keep this space open. Hours of work. Struggling with finances. Wondering if it is possible to make this space prosperous. Believing it is possible. Believing there is a need in our society for this space. Holding space for our community. Representing society as we hope it will some day be. Celebrating Diversity. Celebrating the feminine in us all. Holding a space where we all have a voice. No matter how small. No matter what our form of expression. Activism, words, images, music, poetry, the passion of spoken word, private conversations. These are the things that keep the hope of a better society alive.
So just what does it take to keep this space alive? What does it take to make this space prosperous? To show that what we stand for is valuable in our society?
It takes time, It takes money, It takes community support. It takes creating a dream, believing in that dream and following through.
So how can you help? You can volunteer, spend time in the store, greet customers, attend events, tell people about this space.
You can become a member, give gift certificates, bring friends, shop often!
The current economy has been rough on us. Your support is more critical now then every before. I’ve included two links below which will allow you to purchase membership or gift certificates. Both are very valuable right now and will help provide an immediate level of cash flow to ensure we get through this current economic slow down.
 Gift Certificate |
 Membership |
By: CherylCheryl is a computer networking professor at Sante Fe College for the past 14 years and is a highly sought after internet and computer consultant. Previous to her tenure at Sante Fe, Cheryl spent seven years working for the American Red Cross in Jacksonville. During that time she served as a founding member of the North Florida Aids Network, Vice-Chair of the North Florida Drowning Prevention Coalition and wrote many grants for HIV/AIDS education training. Cheryl has, also, had the privilege of being mother to two wonderful human beings. Her 19 year old son Sean and 17 year old daughter Jessie have been very supportive of her commitment to Wild Iris Books and have been very helpful its growth and success. Cheryl is the logistical and strategic thinker of the team who is one of the most non-judgmental, compassionate persons on the planet.
Website: http://friendsofwildiris.org/members/cheryl/
Here is a message that was just sent to me about “In Other Words” a sister feminist bookstore in Portland, Oregon. As you can see the current economy is hard on all of us. It is very important during these times that we work together to preserve the things that are important to us. I always consider my dollars as votes. If I spend a dollar on something I am voting for that thing. Please help out and step forward to support the local businesses and organization you value. Vote wisely and place your purchases and contributions where they will make the most impact on our society.
Dear friends,
In Other Words, like so many of our fellow bookstores, has fallen upon incredibly hard financial times. With the decline in our current economy, we have experienced severely decreased revenue. If we are unable to raise $11,000 by the end of December, In Other Words will have to close its doors.
We desperately need your help. We are confident that if everyone who cares about In Other Words makes a contribution, large or small, we will meet our goal. Please give as generously as you can to save the last remaining non-profit, feminist bookstore in the country: the place where so many Portland artists, activists, organizers, readers, writers, political thinkers, musicians and poets find their voice, their power, their community, and their political home.
Our community cannot afford to lose In Other Words, please help us save her!
You can make your tax-deductible donations on the In Other Words secure website, or by stopping into the store (8 NE Killingsworth).
Please forward this widely to your community, we need all the help we can get!
Sincerely,
The Board, Staff and Volunteers of In Other Words
http://www.inotherwords.org/NASApp/store/IndexJsp
–
Program Director, In Other Words
katie@inotherwords.org
503.232.6003
It surprises me that one of those visitors was from Chicago. We have a popular feminist bookstore here – Women & Children First – that it doing quite well. There always seems to be at least a half dozen customers in the store when I’m there (at all times of the day) and usually 3 employees. They have a lot of events there, and the downturn in the market doesn’t seem to be hurting that store.
I’m in the process of launching a queer book review website, and one of the features on the site is a map and search function to find gay-friendly bookstores. In my quest to compile information on these stores I have come across dozens of independent, feminist, and gay-friendly book retailers who have closed their doors recently – many in the last 12 months. Most of them had blogs that allowed me to read back and see the fund-raising efforts they had undergone in the last year to try and stay open. I even came across stores that had survived for 50 years, 80 years, that had to close. It makes me sad and makes me want to try even harder to encourage people to support independent bookstores.
It’s a difficult task in this economy, and I am guilty of shopping at the big chains as well. I usually only buy from my local independent when I go there for events. It helps that they offer a yearly membership with a 10% discount, but with less money to spend on books these days, and outrageous sales tax (11.5%!) in Chicago, sometimes I just can’t pass up the 40% off at Amazon. However, I will always buy the authors’ books when Women & Children First has readings and signings.
Good luck to all the alternative bookstores out there. I hope you can weather the storm.