We Are Losing Our Bookish Institutions at An Alarming Rate: What Can We Do to Help?

I am mad as hell. And I'm also heartbroken. And so I feel compelled to write -- almost literally the only thing that makes me feel less helpless. 

We are losing our bookish institutions at a terrifyingly alarming rate.

Like many of you, I absorbed the news today that Bond Villain Bezos is shuttering the Books section of the Washington Post with a mixture of sadness and rage. What an absolute gut punch! The Washington Post published one of the few remaining robust sections of literary criticism...and now it's gone, just like that. 

Amazon, which Bezos also owns, just spent upwards of $75 million to fund and market a piece of pure regime propaganda about the first lady, which it had to know was not going to make even a quarter of that investment back. Priorities made clear. (I had huge rant here trying to understand why a fucking billionaire is allowed to own a newspaper in the first place, but I deleted it when I revised so we could move on.)

Beloved book critic Ron Charles was one of those laid off. His weekly Book Club newsletter was a highlight of every Friday morning for me. And his criticism was as smart and funny as any writing on any topic out there. I'm not exaggerating when I say he is my all-time favorite book critic. (Yes, book nerds have favorite book critics like normal people have favorite athletes.) He's out of a job. Because of a billionaire trying "cut the fat" from his business. (A silver lining: Charles posted on his Substack that he's not going away, and I look forward to reading him anywhere he goes.) 

Here in Chicago, that news came on the same day that we learned a literary institution here, Open Books, is closing one of its bookstores. Thankfully, there are two more and it sounds like the organization, which does truly amazing work to promote literacy in the city and beyond, is basically taking steps to ensure its long-term health so that it doesn't have to close everything. But on top of the Books section news, this just felt especially sad. 

And further, Chicago also just lost Volumes Bookcafe, a long-time Wicker Park institution. Volumes was the victim of a few headwinds, not the least of which was a giant Barnes & Noble opening just down the street from them.

Add to these emboldened book banning efforts, the closing of the Kennedy Center for "renovations", and just the general anti-art and anti-intellectual atmosphere these days perpetuated that fascist regime. Anyone with expertise is not to be trusted and anyone with an education has been somehow "indoctrinated."

It all just feels like so, so much. The world feels so impossibly heavy these days. 

We need some good news. We need to CREATE our own good news. 

So here are some suggestions. These aren't exactly earth-shattering. But even as I wrote them, I thought, these are always good reminders.

1) Of course, buy books from independent bookstores. But also, go to events at these stores. Subscribe to their newsletters, and share them if you can. Tell your friends and family when a store does something particularly well, like donating money to anti-ICE organizations or donating books to literary organizations. 

2) Of course, subscribe to newspapers, magazines, and other journalistic entities doing good work. But also, help them by sharing their work. Highlight a piece you found particularly interesting. Buy products from the good companies that advertise with them and tell those companies why you bought their product. Subscribe to their newsletters. Tell them when they wrote something you liked. 

3) Of course, if you're able, donate money to organizations like Authors Against Book Bans. But also, donate your time to these organizations fighting like hell for our right to read. Print out posters and spend and afternoon hanging them in coffee shops and parks in your neighborhood. Read about book ban legislation and share with family and friends in those areas. Ask them to help you fight. 

4) Of course, CONTINUE TO READ BOOKS. But also, continue to read widely and diversely. Step outside your reading comfort zone frequently. Give something new and different a chance. And tell people when you love something.

Hang in there, friends. We'll get through this. Maybe broken and wounded. But we'll heal.