To all our supporters, members and patrons,
Thank you so much for your supportive emails, and your letters to City Council, the Mayor and State Government officials. They have had a significant effect on getting our situation recognized.
Now, the most important focus of our efforts has to be on our Community Lending program. We are extremely grateful to all of you who have contributed so far and offered to become a lender.
Our meetings with city and state government have clarified the need for legislation that can provide more support for store front business in the city. The problem is that currently no mechanism exists for assisting Book Culture. So while the Council members have been supportive and open to discussion, our future will depend on private support.
Long term, we will play a leadership role in developing the legislation and community focus that can help support the kind of New York we want. Our immediate focus has to be on keeping Book Culture stores open.
Many patrons have pledged financial support, but it takes time to get the documents and checks in, making it hard to assess exactly where we stand so far towards our goal of $750k. Our initial pledge count puts us at over $100,000 but not all those pledges have arrived. We will update as loans come in.
Our Community Lender program will have to run on for some time. We look forward to adding lenders one by one and building the supportive financial structure that will keep our Book Culture stores open and serving our communities.
While the summer is a slow period for much of New York City business, this time of year is imperative as we prepare for the back to school season and the crucial September to January run. The early loans are the most important and give us that essential momentum and optimism we need. Now is the time!
Becoming a Community Lender to Book Culture is a way of taking a stand for our city and our neighborhoods. Our survival means having four open stores. It means 65+ people on our payroll. It means there is one more anchor against the consolidation of wealth and influence in this city.
It means we still have a voice.
So please spread the word about what we are trying to accomplish, our Community Lending program and our plan to keep our stores open. We have a simple loan agreement that can be signed electronically and we are open to modifying the terms to suit potential lender’s needs.
Thank you and we will keep you posted.
Sincerely,
