In "Brick and mortar bookstores are back," American Public Media's Marketplace recently reported on the growth of indie bookstores and Barnes & Noble, focusing on Judging by the Cover: A Bookstore, Fresno, Calif., a BIPOC- and LGBTQ-centered store that stocks titles in English, Spanish, Punjabi, and Hmong. The store started in 2023 as a pop-up and online store, then opened in a storefront in 2024.
"One of our first pop-up events, we had an elder who said they've never seen themselves represented in books before, ever," Judging by the Cover co-owner Ashley Mireles-Guerrero, who is also a children's book author, said. "Growing up as a Latina, there weren't a lot of stories that represent us."
The Marketplace segment also featured comments from Shelf Awareness's own John Mutter.