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Brooklyn’s independent bookshops move operations online amid the outbreak
BY JESSICA PARKS
The borough’s independent
bookstores have taken
quite a hit as state regulations
have forced all non-essential
businesses to temporarily
close their doors in an effort to
lessen the spread of novel coronavirus.
However, many stores
have simply moved their operations
online instead of closing
up completely.
“We decided to do the deliveries
because we really
love our customers most of
all,” said Christine Freglette,
owner of The BookMark
Shoppe in Bay Ridge. “We
have been a part of the community
for 18 years. We have
so many people who rely on us
and we want to bring to them
whatever we can.”
For many, Freglette said,
books are the greatest escape
from the current crisis.
“For some, books is their
only way to pass the time and
that is what they are used to —
we can’t just take that away,”
she said. “For others, we have
been able to help with workbooks
Brooklyn Public Library to host
‘28th Amendment’ town halls online
COURIER L 24 IFE, APRIL 3-9, 2020
and other educational
items for home schooling.”
The BookMark Shoppe, like
other literary suppliers across
Brooklyn, has had to improvise
given the current climate.
Here’s a list of Brooklyn bookstores
that will bring the books
right to your front door while
you self-quarantine:
Terrace Books
and Community
Bookstore
Park Slope’s Community
Bookstore and its sister
bookshop Terrace Books in
Windsor Terrace have both
moved their inventories online.
Their joint website includes
Terrace Book’s rare
book selection and those in
search of a new or popular
title can check out the selfexplanatory
“In Our Front
Window” section.
Books are Magic
Cobble Hill’s Book are
Magic will continue fulfi lling
online book orders Mondays
through Fridays from 9
am to 4 pm. Their wide range
of titles should have an option
for every reader and
indecisive shoppers can fi nd
solace in an assortment of recommendation
lists including
staff’s picks and works with a
focus on social justice.
Greenlight Books
The independently-owned
bookshops in Prospect-Leffert
Gardens and Fort Greene
are not only continuing to sell
their books via the internet
but are also offering a slate
of book groups and other interactive
events through the
video-conferencing website,
Zoom! And readers can also
purchase an audiobook on
Greenlight’s online store as
well.
Archestratus Books
and Foods
If you are in need of some
food inspiration while stuck
at home, head on over to
the website of Greenpoint’s
Archestratus Books and
Foods.
The Sicilian bakerymeets
bookshop will ship
online purchases and is offering
their food and pantry
selection for curbside pickup
Thursdays through Sundays.
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Brooklyn Public Library will
still host town hall meetings to
crowdsource ideas for a new amendment
to the Constitution online, according
to organizers, who have
chosen to carry on with the series
digitally amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Given the circumstances, we
thought that this is one of the projects
that lends itself to moving online,”
said Jacob Orsos, the library’s
vice president of arts and culture.
The book lender will host its
free “28th Amendment Town Hall”
sessions via the video conferencing
platform Zoom twice a week on
Tuesdays and Saturdays from April
4 through April 25.
Book bigwigs are planning
more discussions about possible
upgrades for the country’s founding
document for May, and the unprecedented
current health crisis of
the spread of COVID-19 will feature
heavily in the debates.
“I consider the virus a litmus
test,” Orsos said. “It really stunningly
indicates some of our most
problematic areas.”
Healthcare came up during inperson
town halls earlier in the
month, along with topics such as
voting rights, wealth accumulation,
and solidarity, according to Orsos.
Professional moderators and
professors of constitutional law
will still lead the discussions and
law students from the five boroughs
will take notes of each session.
Those notes will then be provided
to a group of “Framers” who
will create a draft proposal for the
new amendment, with a finalized
version due by mid-October, weeks
ahead of the November presidential
election.
Some of the sessions will be
part of select high schools’s online
learning programs the city instituted
since the closure of all public
schools as of March 16.
The Brooklyn Public Library
previously moved a lot of its programming
online, including children’s
story time, creative writing
contests, gaming sessions, and
career services, after closing all
branches due to the pandemic on
that same date.
The library will aim to translate
some of the Constitutional sessions
into Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish
to make them accessible to more
Brooklynites.
People interested in taking part
in the upcoming amendment sessions
can register at the library’s
website with their email to receive
a Zoom invitation.
While the debates will now happen
quarantined and behind a
screen, Orsos hopes that the current
health crisis will galvanize
discussion even further.
“This will spark an even livelier
conversation about our lives,” he
said.
“28th Amendment Town Hall”
at Brooklyn Public Library RSVP
here. April 4-25, Saturdays at 4 pm,
Tuesdays at 7 pm. Free.
Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene is offering their inventory for sale online.
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A participant at a March 5 town hall event holds a
copy of the Constitution. Photo by Gregg Richards