Hive Mind Books in Brooklyn, N.Y., has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help buy the Bureau of General Services--Queer Division and prevent its closure, Gothamist reported. BGSQD is the last queer bookstore in Manhattan.
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Jules Wernersbach, owner of Hive Mind Books, launched the crowdfunding campaign last week; it has already brought in more than $34,000 out of a $50,000 goal. Money raised will go toward purchasing BGSQD, increasing payroll, hiring an events manager, and reopening a cafe in the Bureau's building on West 13th St. that has been closed for more than a year.
Wernersbach told Gothamist that they reached out to BGSQD owners Donnie Jochum and Greg Newton almost as soon as they learned Newton and Jochum intended to move and would close the bookstore if they could not find a buyer. After confirming BGSQD was a healthy business, Wernersbach knew buying it was the right choice.
"Understanding that the business is healthy and people just want it and love it so much--of course they do, they're such a community here," Wernersbach said. "People want this here, they need it and they’re relying on this store for gathering, events, for cultures or just coming in for chit chat."
"This will help to draw more attention to the bookstore, which is tucked away on the second floor, not to mention much-needed revenue," Newton told Gothamist. “The joining of the Bureau to the cafe and to Hive Mind Books will create a mutually supporting network of queer cultural spaces in NYC that can do so much more than the Bureau could ever have done on its own."
Wernersbach has no plans to significantly change BGSQD's identity or offerings, though there are plans to update its software systems and add e-commerce functionality. They pointed out that though both Hive Mind and the Bureau are queer bookstores, they have different audiences and communities.
"The Bureau is so well known and so well loved for what it does," Wernersbach said. "We like it, we like what they've done and we want to keep their identity as it is."