Protagonist Books & Coffee, a new woman-owned, queer-owned, author-owned bookstore and cafe that strives "to be an inclusive third space where you can 'find your story,' feel at home, and build community around books" will host its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, September 9, at 8 W. Main Street in Dryden, N.Y.
Sam Gellar-Smith, co-owner with Amber Gellar-Smith, told Ithaca.com: "We aren't beholden to different contracts with whatever's being highly marketed. We can choose our own books according to what we think is a good fit for the bookstore. That's one of the huge benefits of independent bookstores, is you're just able to make your selection the way you want to make it and you're not driven by the commercial machine that's behind Amazon and some of those big-box stores." In addition to books, Protagonist has a cafe and will host events, including author readings and board game nights.
The owners had long discussed opening a bookstore, but originally considered doing so in retirement. Ithaca.com wrote that their plans changed "when North Carolina, where they lived until recently, passed the 'Don't Say Gay' laws in 2023, which Sam said created an environment more hostile to lesbians than when she first came out in the 1990s."
"As an author, I do a lot of school visits," Amber Gellar-Smith said. "I was told that I wasn't allowed to mention that I had a wife, because North Carolina had just passed these terrible 'Don't Say Gay' laws. Anyway, that was the point where we seriously considered that we wanted to move away into a more welcoming community."
They discovered Dryden, near Ithaca, while on a vacation to the Finger Lakes, and found it to be more welcoming. After seeing a beautiful home there, they put in an offer a day later. "All of the different components really fell into place, so we decided to go for it," Amber Gellar-Smith said, adding: "We really know what it's like to not feel welcome, and so we want to make this space a very inclusive and welcoming space for people of all walks of life.... It's been really exciting to see this dream starting to become a reality. We're really excited to share it with the community."