Save Women & Children First

This week, I got a nice sign from the universe that my friends and I are on the same page. I think it is difficult to make good, serious, soul-touching friendships as an adult. There are decades of work to do in short order, and around new and more time-consuming interests and committments. Sometimes, it seems more work than it's worth.

However, I've found some really wonderful women around here, and am trying to put the time and heart into these friendships. My mother has some wonderful friends she made in her adult life, and her friendships are inspiring. I'd like to do the same.

So, this week I got the same important, simple message from two friends -- two women who only recently met for the first time through me, and two women I think will be part of my life forever. When I got the message from the first one, I thought: I should blog this right away. When I got it from the second one, I thought: I should have blogged that yesterday!

So here it is. Chicago area folk, please take note:

Women & Children First Bookstore in Chicago is "fighting for survival," according to the Windy City Times. Co-owner Linda Bubon said that sales have slid in the past three years, due to competition from chains and the  Internet. The paper wrote, "Things have gotten so bad at W&CF that [the
owners] confirm the store must now plan month-to-month, not long-term. And
the possibility that W&CF might close before the end of the summer is very
real, they confirmed."

Co-owner Ann Christophersen, a former president of the ABA, added, "What it
ultimately comes down to is: whether people in the community, and the city
as a whole, decide it matters enough that we exist and then make their
shopping decisions based on that. . . . We want people's support, and we
need it now. By that we mean, that they buy their books here."

Why feminist bookstores are culturally essential.

It is not purely in self-interest when we say that we feel the existence of
independent bookstores are vital to the free exchange of communication and
the existence of independent publishing. The culture of independent book
stores builds a community of readers and thinkers that are vital to the
progressive advancement of society. How so? At Women & Children First
Bookstore we carry books that we feel are of interest  to our customers, with
no regard to how much money the publisher has to pay for display space in
our store. We have a steadfast commitment to carry and support the work of
independent publishers who themselves are committed to nurturing a diverse array of emerging voices who speak from experiences and to issues that might not be deemed commerical enough for any other publishing platform.

Think of all the important feminist authors who have been first and / or exclusively published by feminist presses:

Dorothy Allison, Audre Lorde, Michelle Tea, Leslie Feinberg, Inga Muscio,
Kate Bornstein, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Judy Grahn, Joan Nestle, Cheryl Clarke,
Jeannette Winterson, Jane Rule, Jewel Gomez, Achy Obejas, Alison Bechdel,
and the list goes on and on.

The fact that many of our feminist presses have folded in the past twelve
years is in direct corrolation with the rise of Amazon.com. Think of it this
way; the less often people actually go into real bookstores to browse, the
less likely they are to stumble across the work of one of these authors and
the more likely, then, that the author will fall into obscurity, and with
it, our culture, our history, our feminist presses, our feminist bookstores.

Furthermore, feminist bookstores provide a gathering space, a place of
community, where women's voices and experiences are valued and celebrated.

We are de facto community centers, the places you go to buy tickets, pick up
papers, attend programs, post bulletins, meet, network, commiserate and
celebrate. We are often the places where lesbian women buy their first
lesbian book, where women who are the victims of violence find the book that
sets them on the path to recovery, where women find books about health,
sexuality, spirituality, alternative views on pregancy, birth, and childrearing, where all of the children's books treat girls as people with value... Feminist bookstores are places for women to build community, to learn, to grow.

But we cannot exist on good intentions and fond feelings alone. More then
ever, feminist bookstores needs the active support of the communities they
help cultivate, just as, more then ever, we need feminist bookstores.

How You Can Help Insure the Future of Feminist Bookselling in Chicago

Yes, you can play a vital role in helping to insure the role of feminist bookselling in Chicago!

Here's how:

1. Chose to shop at our store. Besides great books, we also carry a hand-picked selection of new release independent music by women, jewelry,
buttons and bumper stickers, all the cool magazines, and a children's
section we are famous for.

2. Talk us up to your friends, or, better yet, bring them in.

3. When you attend free pregrams at our store, please buy a book! This not
only supports our programming endeavors, it also supports the writer and
tells the publisher that it is worthwhile to send thier authors to us.

4. Sign up on our website for our free e-newsletter to keep up to date with
what's happening at the store: www.womenandchildrenfirst.com

5. Be our MySpace friend and suscribe to our MySpace blog for same reason as above.

6. Become a bookstore member. Annual membership costs $25 and gets you 10% off of all your book purchases, plus inclusion in the annual member's-only sale and a free subscription to More Books For Women (a $35 value!) a monthly round-up of recommendations form feminist
bookstores around the country. Keep up with the latest new releases!

7. Show your love: put us in your top "My Space" friends.

8. If you are in a postion to do corporate gift giving, consider our "Books
by the Box" program. We offer direct to business delivery and substantial
discounts on 20 or more copies of a single book.

9. Support the Women's Voices Fund, our not-for-profit programming arm,
which helps sustain our active free programming schedule. Donations of over $50 are tax deductible when made out the the Crossroads Foundation (they manage the Women's Voices Fund). This also helps insure the future and diversity of feminist programming in Chicago!

10. We can offer bulk discounts to libraries, social service organizations,
schools, and more. If you have a bulk book order to place, come to us first.

11. Tell us what we need to do to be your dream bookstore. If there is any
way that we can serve you better, let us know. Your opinion matters to us.
Our ability to meet your needs is essential right now to our survival. Help
us make that happen!

12. For birthdays and holidays tell your friends and family that you want a
Women & Children First Gift Card!

13. Repost this with your own testimonies, and share this info with your
friends, colleagues, classmates, and strangers on the street.

Thanks

Laurel

Please pass this along.