To Be Read

Every month eBook sales increase.

However, some bookstores are thriving. One of those bookstores is Open Books, a non-profit bookstore, in Chicago. Open Books, a 5,000 square foot bookstore sells more than 50,000 books – most of them half-off. The bookstore’s proceeds benefit Open Books Buddies, a program that pairs volunteers with high-risk elementary-age students for one-on-one reading and comprehension practice.

Open Books was recently featured in an article on Open Forum titled The Last Successful Bookstore:

“I’m a detective, or at least I feel like one, as I walk through Chicago’s River North neighborhood in search of a nearly-extinct treasure: a thriving bookstore.
 
Is there such a thing? I’m skeptical, especially after passing the sad shell of a former Borders on Michigan Avenue, but seven blocks later I find myself standing in front of Open Books, a wildly popular bookstore with a philanthropic mission.
 
Upon entering, I am greeted by the sight of two knight statues, a seven-foot-long flying copper dragon suspended from the ceiling, and a multicolored mural stating, ‘Building a World of Readers, Artists & Dreamers.” Open Books is far more than a bookstore. It is a non-profit that provides programs to help fight Chicago’s literacy crisis—the bookstore helps fund the operation.”

You can read the full article here.