Queens, N.Y., Group: 'Keep Bookshops Alive in the Borough'

Now-closed B&N in Queens

A group of women from Queens, N.Y., is "making an active effort to keep bookshops alive in the borough," WCBS reported. Reacting to Barnes & Noble's decision last year to close its last two locations in the New York City borough, Natalie Noboa teamed up with friends to start the Queens Bookshop initiative, dedicated to bringing bookstores to the area. Queens did gain an independent bookseller in 2013, with the opening of Astoria Bookshop.

"I've grown up here, I grew up in the kids' section [of the Forest Hills B&N] reading Junie B. Jones," said Noboa, whose group has passed out flyers to spread the word about getting another bookstore in the area. "We've always loved books, we've always wanted to do something like this. We just want a community space.... There's something different about books that you just need to see them; you need to feel them, you need to open them up. You need to be able to do that. And that's why this space is important."

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