Support East Lansing Indie Bookstores

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casey.holland3

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Apr 2, 2020
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I don't know if it's okay for me to post this here--if it's not, please let me know where if there's another place that would be a better fit!

I work for two used bookstores in East Lansing, Michigan. One of the shops, Curious Book Shop, just celebrated its 50th anniversary in October. Archives Book Shop, its sister store, has been running since the 1980s. The stores and their owner, Ray Walsh, have been staples of the community for decades. I'm going on my two-year anniversary working at both stores, but I've been visiting them since I first started attending Michigan State University in 2013. The first time I stepped inside Curious Book Shop, I was certain I stumbled upon something magical.

The stores mean so much to me, and their influences have spread far and wide over the years. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the stay-at-home order that followed forced us to close our doors and shift entirely to online revenue, but losing all of that foot traffic really hurt our sales. In response, my coworker and I followed the leads of some other used and indie bookstores and started a GoFundMe page for Curious and Archives!

Any donations will help keep the books housed and fed, as we like to say. Donations will also help keep employees on payroll and help us cover the costs of rent and other expenses. Anyone who donates $10 or more has the option of receiving a mysterious bundle of books shipped directly to their door (and we have a TON of Stephen King books to send out, too). Of course, we know books might not be in your budget during these increasingly unsettling times, but even just sharing our fundraiser and spreading the word helps us immensely.

If you live near an indie bookstore that's also struggling right now, consider seeing if they have a GoFundMe as well. Many indies are still taking gift certificate and book orders, too! Don't let this shut them down.

You can find the Curious and Archives GoFundMe page here: Support Curious and Archives Book Shops! organized by Ray Walsh