Noëlle Santos is putting in hard work to open up the Bronx’s only book store. And has launched a crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo to open the The Lit. Bar.
How did the Bronx end up without a bookstore? It happened after Barnes & Nobles shut down their Bronx location recently.
In an interview with PIX11 News, Santos spoke about mixing books and wine.
” It’s a social hub for people to come together and talk about social issues,” she told the news outlet. “That’s something Amazon cannot provide.”
“Lit like literature, Lit like drunk. Lit with passion to kill stigmas… and prove, once again, that the Bronx keeps creating it,” Santos says in her campaign video. “And we are worthy, that we are more than just sneaker stores and we support the arts, so I stand here today and ask you to open your hearts and help us show the world what many fail to see: that the Bronx is no longer burning, except with a desire to read.”
“When you come into a neighborhood like the South Bronx, where most of our population is Hispanic and African-American, you need your stores, your community centers and your organizations to reflect the people that actually live there,” she told The New York Times.
So far Santos has raised over $45,000 and even had the support of people like:
1.4 million people in the Bronx — and not a single bookstore! Please help. I did! https://t.co/SGoBOzKE1J #indiegogo via @indiegogo
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) February 3, 2017