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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