Wow, time flies!
One year ago, Lore popped up for the first time, hosting an all-ages book fair at the Panama City Farmers Market in historic downtown Panama City, Fl. Since then, we’ve been fortunate enough to pop up all over the place, carrying our love of literature all over the Florida Panhandle and into Alabama. We’ve received orders from all over the country, as far away as Washington State, and we’ve developed relationships with small businesses all over the country, as well. By far the best part of the past year, however, has been meeting so many of you, having fantastic conversations about literature. We’ve made some pretty cool friends and genuinely feel honored and humbled to have the opportunity to continue to see you all each time we pop up. For the past year, Lore operated as a for-profit retail bookstore, an independent member of the ABA. While it’s been great to be able to pay our bills, we’ve learned so much about ourselves and even more about the ongoing and increasing censorship of literature in this country, especially here in the Southeast, and we’ve made some business decisions that will affect the frequency with which we pop up here in the panhandle. First: we’re relocating in 2024 to the River Region of Alabama. This decision is a rather personal one, as many of our family members live there now and are currently being impacted by the censorship efforts of “Moms for Liberty” and “Clean Up Alabama.” We plan on visiting the panhandle for some fun festivals and events, so you haven’t seen the last of us at all. Second: we’re retooling our business model. Once we relocate, we’ll be operating as a nonprofit with the mission of providing banned and challenged books at absolutely NO cost. We’ll still be a member of the ABA; the various titles and sidelines we’ll sell will help to fund our mission, as will donations from publishers and from the public. We plan to partner with several organizations, including Read Freely Alabama, to fight back against censorship. Thank you so very much for giving us this opportunity to grow as an organization and as human beings. Come out to our Last Minute Book Fair on Saturday, December 23, at the Panama City Farmers Market to grab some awesome gifts for the folks on your list! We have so many amazing books, tons of bookish gifts and accessories, and some fully gift-wrapped Mystery Date books that each come with a handmade fabric bookmark and a unique ornament! On January 12, we’ll be back in Panama City for a grownup BANNED book fair at Mosey’s in downtown, and then we’ll have a full popup the following weekend at the market! The future is going to bring some pretty big changes and challenges, and we feel so lucky knowing that we’ve got your support. Thank you so much for everything, and we hope to see you on Saturday! Remember: FREE PEOPLE READ FREELY! Peace, love, and books, y’all! ☮️❤️📚
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I get it: we all need to save our pennies where we can. And many of us order all sorts of things from That Giant Billionaire’s Website. It’s convenient. But when it comes to new books, that site doesn’t support the small businesses we want to have in our communities. Enter: Bookshop.org! On Bookshop, it’s super easy to shop for your new books. Utilize their expertly-curated lists or simply type the title or author you’re searching for into their search bar. Make sure you’re supporting your bookstore of choice, though (like Lore!) by selecting “Choose a Bookstore” from the drop-down menu. You can search by name, by zip code, whatever is easiest for you. Type in “Lore Independent” to support our mission of bringing a book-and-mortar store back to Bay County! Once you’ve selected your bookstore, shop as usual! Bookshop.org partners with Lore and many other small bookstores to offer you fantastic new books in ALL genres. When you purchase your books from Bookshop.org, you can support Lore and many other fantastic independent bookstores. Help us save our community from That Giant Billionaire!
💡 Vendor Spotlight 💡
At Lore, we strive to bring you bookish gifts that are not only NOT available on Amazon, but are made with care for the environment and our fellow man. We love to work with woman-owned businesses. This spotlight is on Indigo Maiden Find her at https://www.etsy.com/shop/IndigoMaiden 💡 Vendor Spotlight 💡
At Lore, we strive to bring you bookish gifts that are not only NOT available on Amazon, but are made with care for the environment and our fellow man. We love to work with woman-owned businesses! This spotlight is on Blackbird Letterpress. Find them at www.blackbirdletterpress.com! “Kathryn Hunter - Kathryn was trained as a printmaker and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from Montana State University, Bozeman, and a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. She continues to make fine art when she's not busy keeping up with Blackbird, designing, printing, and performing other operational tasks. See her fine art work at kathrynhunterfineart.com. Her work is represented by LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, LA. She is part of the artist collective Luminous Lookout and an artist member of Baton Rouge Gallery of Contemporary Art, which is among the longest-standing artist cooperative organizations in the US. Élise Lassonde- Élise has a Bachelor degree in Graphic Design from Université du Québec à Montréal (2004) and a M.I.S from Université de Montréal (2006). She has been responsible for the heritage collections of prints, book bindings, artists’ books and bibliophile books at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec since 2007 and is currently doing a residency at Blackbird Letterpress . She is particularly interested in printing processes, reading dynamics and the democratization of printed art. Dawn Black- Dawn is a visual artist in Baton Rouge. She shows her work internationally and is part of the artist collective Luminous Lookout.” 💡 Vendor Spotlight 💡
At Lore, we strive to bring you bookish gifts that are not only NOT available on Amazon, but are made with care for the environment and our fellow man. This spotlight is on Ruth & Dottie, a woman-owned small business. Find them at https://www.etsy.com/shop/RuthandDottie 💡 Vendor Spotlight 💡
At Lore, we strive to bring you bookish gifts that are not only NOT available on Amazon, but are made with care for the environment and our fellow man. Our first spotlight is on “Wsamnipat,” who handmade some beautiful pressed-flower bookmarks for us. “Hi, I'm Sam. I am a marketing specialist, photographer, and small business owner from Nantucket Island, now in Boston, MA. I have experience in photography and marketing with various clients and organizations throughout the Massachusetts area and have a passion for house plants, Boston sports, and crafting. My wsamnipat marketing and photography side hustle sprouted (like my plant obsession) my craft projects during the COVID-19 Pandemic when my art started to accumulate all over my apartment. I grew up constantly making things so an abundance of artwork taking over the living room was nothing new. I learned how to run a small business from my parents who owned and operated a little convenience store on Nantucket. From working at Lucky's throughout my childhood to making and selling beaded bracelets to my classmates for $1 (to donate to Thailand after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami!), I've always kept myself busy. After the increased racial attacks towards the AAPI community during the Pandemic, a portion of monthly wsamnipat proceeds are donated to organizations dedicated to helping the Asian community and to stopping AAPI hate. To date, we have donated over $2000 together! Outside of my small business, I work as a Marketing Manager for Sports Reference, am a grad student getting my MBA at Hult International Business School, and enjoy short walks to the nearest pizza place and binge-watching the Hallmark Channel.” Find her at www.wsamnipat.com! |
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