[Crwt-undergrad-info] Cellar Door Books

[Tom Lutz]

We would like to enlist the department in helping Riverside's ONLY
independent bookstore, Cellar Door Books.  Last night, the owner of Cellar
Door, Linda, received an eviction notice that gives her 40 days to leave
her current location. The store is profitable and well-run. But Linda has
one strike against her: she is vocally and very publicly progressive.

For years now, Cellar Door has held Drag Queen Story Hour. When Jammin'
Bread closed, a new owner moved in and opened a cafe called Arcade. This
place is owned by a very conservative member of a megachurch whose
congregation can be seen protesting, yelling, and frowning mightily against
Cellar Door's Drag Queen Story Hour, as well as Linda's ongoing masking
policy and frequent displays of novels by minoritized groups, Black and
Latinx and Queer and Asian and Indigenous and others. Linda has prominent
signs in the windows supporting BLM and other progressive causes.

Cellar Door has always stocked UCR writers, and our department has held
readings there. It is a thriving place where book clubs meet and local
children first learn to browse the shelves. We would like as many people as
possible to write to the owner of Canyon Crest. Those protesting Cellar
Door have written many letters, and I'd like her landlord, the owner of
Canyon Crest Towne Center to know there are just as many, and probably
more, voices who support Cellar Door.

Canyon Crest Management,Inc.
Maggie Sarinana
maggie at canyoncrestmgmt.com
Office: 951-686-1222 Ext 10

There is also a contact form here: https://shopcanyoncrest.com/contact-us
<https://shopcanyoncrest.com/contact-us>

And of course we encourage going to the store and supporting it, too.

Thanks, Tom Lutz and Goldberry Long
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