[#SOS] Lorem Ipsum Books needs your help

The sun was struggling to creep through an overcast sky in Inman Square this afternoon as I turned left off Prospect onto Cambridge Street. I walked with a sense of confusion towards Lorem Ipsum Books, one of the city’s most cherished countercultural meeting spots, which announced a couple of days ago via an Indie Go Go campaign that it may be closing its doors as soon as this weekend.

“IN DAYS, BELOVED LOREM IPSUM BOOKS WILL BE EVICTED, BUT, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY,” reads the campaign, asking for donations to help the shop pay its rent. “CALLING ALL BOOK LOVERS, SUPERHEROS, AVENGERS -- SHOW YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT RIGHT NOW.”

The shop is a vital part of our city's cultural community and it would be a shame to lose it. Getting to know the community surrounding Lorem Ipsum Books over the past year and a half, it’s always felt “too good to be true” in Boston, a city that in general can’t seem to find value in aboveground sustainable community-centric alternative/arts spaces. In addition to selling interesting/radical/out-there used books, the shop also is also home to the Papercut Zine Library and hosts an array of different events, readings, classes, and for a while even shows.


Hi Mitch

"Boston has a lot of community, but there aren’t a lot of places for people to gather,"  said Lorem Ipsum employee Mitchell Broesder today. When I stopped by the shop, Broesder was scanning some books about fairytales and DIY home repair into the store's database. "We’ve been able to use the space in a lot of different ways. We did shows, readings, workshops, classes, have the library. It has such a flexibility to it. It can bring in a lot of different people doing a lot of different things. I don't know if there are any other spaces in Boston where you can have shows and also queer theory seminars and zine readings."


Papercut zine library

According to Broesder, this campaign was launched because the bookstore owes back rent to the landlord. "In the past I guess he had been pretty gracious about us paying it over a certain period of time gradually," he said. "But he recently I guess his patience has run out so he's asked for it all at once. So Matt [the owner] launched the Indie Go Go campaign if not so we can raise the whole thing but to show with good faith that we are trying and we have the resources and ability to raise the back rent. We're in talks now to try to keep the lease extended."

Broesder said he was feeling nervous but hoping the campaign also opens people's minds about the possibility of the bookstore continuing in a different space, if it comes to that.

"I think Lorem Ipsum as an idea and a community could continue elsewhere," Broesder said. "But it does have a lot of ties to Inman and the physicality of where it is located, and sharing a space with Papercut is so important. If we move somewhere else I don’t know if that would be possible. Or where we could actually move to. I think there could be a future for Lorem Ipsum without this space though. We’ve built up a lot of good will in a lot of circles."

Here's a video of a takeaway show recently filmed by Shane Butler a/k/a one-third of QUILT at the shop just a few weeks ago:



"It has been such an amazing way to meet so many different people from all over the city," said Broesder. "A lot of cool different communities and circles have come together here. All of the shows here brought in so many different people doing all sorts of different really cool things. And all of the Corvid classes brought in a lot of different perspectives into one place, from all over the city. It’s also part of the community in Inman. I’ve got this one dude who lives in Inman who I’m always recommending a new sci-fi book to."

Here's the campaign which explains some more about the shop as well as what they're asking for: