General Discussion

Demovictory9

(32,457 posts) Sun Apr 12, 2020, 04:13 AM Apr 2020

landmark SF bookstore (City Lights) was on verge of perm closure. GOFUNDME raised $428,000 in 2 days

https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive

I have had the huge privilege of spending 33 years at City Lights, learning the crafts of bookselling and publishing, working on a project that feels irrefutably meaningful. During all that time, it has never once seemed possible that our momentum could falter and our project could fail, but we’re all in uncharted terrain now. City Lights is faced with formidable challenges at present: our bookstore has been closed to the public since March 16, and must remain closed for an indefinite period of time. Unlike some shops, we’re unable even to process online orders, since we want our booksellers to remain safely at home. With no way to generate income, our cash reserves are quickly dwindling, with bills coming due and with a primary commitment to our staff, who we sent home with full pay and healthcare, and who we hope to keep as healthy and financially secure as possible.

https://deadline.com/2020/04/san-francisco-landmark-city-lights-bookstore-raises-400k-will-stay-in-business-1202906376/

The iconic City Lights bookstore in San Francisco has apparently avoided a shutdown, at least for now, raising more than $400k out of a goal of $300k in a GoFundMe.com campaign that saw more than 8,000 people donate.

Elaine Katzenberger, the publisher and CEO of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, claimed that the pandemic shutdown of the business since March 16 caused its cash reserves to “quickly dwindle.” The staff has been receiving full pay and healthcare since that date, but the store had no income, and thus was facing ruin.

“I want to reassure you that we’re doing everything in our power to keep City Lights intact, and to position this beloved institution to play a vital role in what is for now a very uncertain future,” said the message from Katzenberger on GoFundMe.

“We know how much we’re all going to need this place again, this home away from home where we can find each other once more, in person and in books.

City Lights was founded in 1953 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, one of the members of the Beat movement. Located in San Francisco’s North Beach, the store was the publisher of Allen Ginsberg’s famous poem Howl.