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2018: A Year in Review of Giving Back

2019 is in full swing and we’re so happy to celebrate another spin around the sun with our amazing staff, dedicated customers, and gracious community partners! Since it’s the time of the season, we at Greenlight have been reflecting on 2018 and the ways in which we’ve been able to support our community through giving. We couldn’t have done it without the help and commitment of you—our customers, fans, and friends! Big thanks and props to all of you!

In partnership with nonprofit organizations, city agencies, the book publishing community, and our customers, we’ve been able to give back this year in significant and meaningful ways. Some donations are financial, supporting schools, nonprofits, and causes, and others are gifts of our expertise and resources to get books into the hands of those who need them most.  

“An independent bookstore is a unique kind of community space: welcoming, inspiring, and humanizing,” says Greenlight co-founder and events director Jessica Stockton Bagnulo. “Along with our colleagues in bookstores around the country, we at Greenlight are looking now for new ways to use our space and other resources to address the issues that affect our community. We have always been a place for conversations, stories and ideas; we hope to become a place where neighbors can make connections and find tools to help one another when we need it most.”

In 2018, Greenlight donated $23,704.07 and 4,306 books in total!

Read on for a (non-exhaustive) closer look at what Greenlight gave in the past year.

Secret Snowflake Book Drive:

Greenlight partners with NYC Service, a division of the Mayor's office, on an annual Secret Snowflake book drive to provide new books to kids in the shelter and foster care systems in New York City. We curate a list of great titles for kids and we discount book drive titles 30% to customers when purchased for donation. We also donate additional books and take on all delivery costs of the books to NYC Service. 

This holiday season, we donated 1,007 books to NYC kids! Much gratitude to all of you for your generous book donations that made this drive such a success.

Gift an Author Visit Program:

Greenlight created the “Gift an Author Visit” program, inviting customers to purchase books in support of authors visiting local school PS 375: if the store could collect purchased books to donate to an entire grade, the author would visit the school and present their book to students.

This year, we collected Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin for the entire Kindergarten and 1st grade, and Sea Creatures from the Sky by Ricardo Cortés for the entire Pre-Kindergarten grade!

Ricardo Cortés visited PS 375 in December and Fran Manushkin will visit in the Spring.

Books Through Bars Wish List:

NYC Books Through Bars is a nonprofit collective that sends free books to incarcerated people across the country. Greenlight hosts an ongoing wish list on our website with books that are always in demand for BTB’s clients; customers purchase books for donation, which are collected at the bookstore and delivered to Books Through Bars. In 2018, with your support, we donated 3,076 books to BTB!

  #IndiesGiveBack Book Donation Project:

Through the “Indie Bookstores Give Back on Small Business Saturday” campaign (#IndiesGiveBack), the American Booksellers Association and American Express are working together with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to make available 20,000 special edition copies of Ghost by Jason Reynolds, the 2018 Indies First spokesperson.

We joined bookstores nationwide in purchasing books at cost for donation and were able to give the entire 6th grade class of Launch Expeditionary Learning School in Crown Heights their own copies of Ghost.

 School Book Fair Fundraisers:

Greenlight works closely with teachers and administrators to curate book fairs so students can have access to books on campus, and we donate 20-25% of all book fair sales back to the school.

In 2018, we put on 29 book fairs and raised over $16,000 for 26 educational institutions!

  Civic Engagement Series:

In 2017, we launched the Civic Engagement Series, which hosts nonprofit groups working in social justice, community organizing, and the arts for hour-long, interactive events with the goal of providing tools for involvement, creativity, and action. 20% of sales on the day of each event are donated to the featured organization to support their important work.  

In 2018, we hosted Prospect Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Association (PLGNA) for a panel on educational equity; Atlas: DIY for testimonials and tutorials by youth clients on immigration justice and advocacy; and teachers and students from Generation Citizen for a demonstration of action civics education in high schools.

 Other Charitable Donations:

Greenlight responds to requests from schools, literary nonprofits, and neighborhood organizations for donations to support their causes. We donate gift cards for raffles and drawings, ad space in programs, or other forms of support for the orgs that make Brooklyn the best it can be. In 2018, we donated over $4,000 in other charitable donations!

Thank you so much for helping us with these accomplishments to benefit our communities. It really would not be possible without you. Every time you shop with us a portion of your support goes toward projects like these. Together, let’s see what we can all do in 2019!

New & Exciting Updates at the PLG Store

Our Prospect Lefferts Gardens location is in full bloom, and we at Greenlight are thrilled to share some new developments and changes with you!

We recently added new fixtures in the store, which has opened up more space for books -- as always, the more the merrier!

We also were inspired to do some rearranging in the store, most notably moving our fiction section up to the front of the store and new releases to the back. We hope you feel at home the next time you visit. Happy browsing! 

As in our Fort Greene location, we’ve partnered with a local florist: in this case, Les Blooms on Fenimore!  Each week we’ll have gorgeous flowers sprucing up our front counter. We’re so happy to support our local business neighbors!

We expanded our greeting card collection by adding a whole ‘nother rack! Yay!

We heard your requests and we’ll be carrying more non-book kids’ toys and gifts at a variety of price points. We’ve already added some to our stock, with more to come.

And we also announced our event at Kings Theatre on Flatbush Avenue on October 15th at 7:30pm for the launch of Pete Souza’s new book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents. We’re excited for neighborhood folks to be able to walk to our gorgeous local theatre for this great event!  Visit greenlightbookstore.com or kingstheatre.com for details and tickets.

Speaking of the future, we’re carrying 12 month AND 18 month calendars and planners, so you can plan for now OR later! 

We hope to see you around soon! 

Love,

Greenlight Bookstore

Flooding in a snowstorm (and why we’re grateful)

On Wednesday night, a pipe burst in our building at 632 Flatbush, sending water pouring through our ceiling.  Though the FDNY arrived and the water was shut off quickly, there was damage throughout two-thirds of our store space and our basement offices, including to our ceiling, walls, fixtures, and a whole lot of books.

But we have a lot to be grateful for.  We're grateful that our booksellers are rock stars – they rescued many books from the flood, preventing far worse damage.  We're grateful to the good folks on the maintenance team at the Parkside jumped into action to help, bringing in dehumidifiers and working overnight to get the building back in shape.  We're grateful that we’ve got good business insurance which will figure everything out eventually.  And we're grateful that we’re in a community that will understand if we look a little ragged for a while.

Today, as a snowstorm blows outside, we’ve been working on drying things out and pulling out all the damaged books.  But the store is still intact, and we don’t believe in staying closed for long. We are the little bookstore that could!

Greenlight in PLG will be open for business on Friday and going forward.  All of our scheduled events will take place as planned.  We'll restock, repair, and rebuild.  We hope you’ll come visit, share stories, and buy one of the many books we’ve still got in the store.  We appreciate the support of our neighbors, and we're grateful to you for standing with us as we weather the storms of small business life.  

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Hannah, our Offsite Sales & School Partnerships manager:

HANNAH’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Stormy, our BAM manager:

STORMY’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our booksellers’ favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our booksellers’ favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Heather C., bookseller at Fort Greene:

HEATHER’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our booksellers’ favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Melissa, bookseller in PLG:

MELISSA’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our booksellers’ favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Matt, assistant buyer:

MATT’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Kelly, bookseller at PLG: (P.S. Kelly is one of our FOUR booksellers who won a James Patterson bonus this year! Congratulations, Kelly!)

KELLY’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our booksellers’ favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Kristi, bookseller at Fort Greene:

KRISTI’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Geo, our store manager at PLG.

GEO’S YEAR IN READING

Geo says:  With some exceptions, most of my reading has shifted dramatically to the pictorial, and I'd like to believe it has nothing to do with any sort of declining attention span. On the contrary, I feel like I've gotten better at reading. After some practice in slowing down and taking in the art along with the story, my growing love for comics has not only one-upped this year, but it's also helped me notice and visualize when I read prose as well.

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old). 

Here’s Stephanie, marketing coordinator:

STEPHANIE’S YEAR IN READING

Stephanie says: I had a really good re-reading year, too: in the spring, I re-read in quick succession Eros the Bittersweet by Anne Carson, A Lover’s Discourse by Roland Barthes, and All About Love by bell hooks.  (I thought this would make me feel better – it did not, but it was a good exercise.) In the summer I re-read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman almost exclusively on a pillowy swath of grass in Prospect Park.  In the fall, we got a Very Short Introduction rack at PLG, and I read Ritual, Pain, Game Theory, and Diaspora.  And did I finally fill the Ferrante-sized hole in my heart this winter with Mating by Norman Rush? Maybe! 

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old).

Here’s Jacob, bookseller at PLG:

JACOB’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories – reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old). 

Here’s co-owner and Events Director Jessica’s list:

JESSICA’S YEAR IN READING

OUR YEAR IN READING

We’re commemorating the end of a frankly interminable year by looking back at our only fond memories -- reading books. Just kidding. But here are are our staff’s favorite books they’ve read this year (both new and old). First up is Julian, receiver at PLG.

JULIAN’S YEAR IN READING

Tomorrow is our first birthday in PLG! To celebrate and say thank you, we are offering 20% off all day on Saturday throughout the bookstore! There will be hot cider and treats, giveaways, surprises, and more.  It’s a great way to get a jump on holiday shopping -- and a way to shop small on Small Business Saturday. 

We thought we might take a look back on the last year as your new neighborhood bookstore, if you’d like to see...

Some photos from our events, like our Civic Engagement series, our Poetry Salon, and the Caribbean/West Indian programming and Immigrant Writing series...

And photos from events from our beloved neighbors, like A.O. Scott, William Hogeland, Rumaan Alam, Mychal Denzel Smith, and Darcey Steinke.

Kids stuff! Story Times for 0 - 7, and Book Clubs for 8 - 12!

Our Staff!  

Chalkboard highlight.

Thanks for looking, and we hope to see you tomorrow! 

Now We Are One

On Saturday we are celebrating one year in PLG! For our first birthday, we’re offering 20% off all day throughout the bookstore -- as our way of saying thank you to the friends, neighbors, and community who have helped us thrive. There will be hot cider, treats, giveaways and surprises. And just as last year, we’re celebrating our birthday on Small Business Saturday.

[Above: illustration by Bob Eckstein]

We’ve got some pictures of this time last year, in case you’d like to see...

Hello, PLG!

A bookstore in boxes!

Needs more books. And floor. (And ceiling.)

Our wonderful neighbors, shelving their bookstore.

More volunteers! Thanks for volunteering!

Are We Open Yet??

First day! First customers! First sale! First DOG!

Plus, a message from our co-owner, Rebecca Fitting: 

“Thank you dear customers for being such good friends of the bookstore. This time a year ago we were digging out of boxy chaos, scrambling to get our second store open and it's been an incredible year.  Thank you for helping us to exist!”

On Friday we’ll be looking back at our first year in PLG, so check back soon.  

With love,

Your Neighborhood Bookstore

The Holidays at Greenlight: The Buyer’s Perspective

As soon as one year ends, you order calendars for the following year (actually, it starts earlier than that - surreally, I ordered our first 2019 calendar two weeks before Thanksgiving.)

Between roughly Spring and Summer, you order all the big Fall books while wearing short sleeves and flip flops.

Then in August you order most of your gifts, games, toys, stationery and holiday cards - the things you don't carry year round but bring in for the fourth quarter.  If you don't do this now, a lot of these items will be gone by the holidays - snatched up by like-minded buyers elsewhere.

You gamble and spend an awful lot of money. An awful lot.

September and October: the publishers begin to set the stage, and all the books ship (conveniently timed so that your invoices comes due before the end of the year.) Your inventory bloats and behind your back, as they struggle to find places to put all these books, your staff starts to question what the buyer was thinking.

November: all the gifts, toys and holiday cards that you ordered way back in August come in. I'd like to say they trickle in, but there's nothing discreet about boxes upon boxes of holiday cards and pallets of toys arriving at your bookstore's door. Nothing. Your backroom is overwhelmed. With boxes literally everywhere, your staff again questions what the buyer was thinking, except now they are less polite and don’t bother to ask behind your back any more. They are smart. They question your judgement, understandably. Like a confidence man, you simply say 'trust me'.

In early November while watching the boxes roll in on UPS's handcart, you decide whether to gamble again, based on the 'retail climate' (whatever the heck that is...) If you feel bullish, which I did, you do a whole ‘nother round of ordering, bringing in more gifts and toys.

You increase your inflection on certain titles, you tweak your selection, you order in all the books your staff has lovingly chosen as books they think would make great gifts for the holidays. You bring them in, in droves. You make tall stacks taller, you order up on 'perennial' books that sell more during the holidays. You snatch up inventory on books you think the publisher will run out of or that you want to flaunt. Pretty picture books, serious topical books, history and biography books, excellent fiction books. You speculate on the award winners and end of year round up lists, and you order, order, order. Put simply, you hoard.

In the two weeks before Thanksgiving, your store then transforms like a peacock, spreading its wares out as if opening its magnificent tail. Your staff unfurls all the books and gifts from their drab cardboard boxes, spreads them out across your store in all their colorful, magical glory, flaunting all that's been lovingly amassed. And then there is the pregnant pause. This magnificent peacock stands stock still on the lawn so that everyone can see it. And you wait, the calm before the crazy. Because of retail necessity, because you need to be 'ready', you've done all this before holiday sales actually kick in.

You fret because you have absolutely no idea how it'll all turn out. It's a giant leap of faith.

Your mantra becomes “books DO make great gifts, books DO make great gifts, books DO make great gifts!” while you wait. You diligently avoid your bookkeeper, quietly hoping it all works out and that sales kick in before too many of the bills come due.

All this for essentially one month of voracious sales.

As a bookstore buyer this year I said: bring it on. This year I was bullish. I gambled big time. Please prove me right by coming to buy all of the books, all of the gifts, all of the toys, all of it. Make Greenlight Bookstore a destination. Our staff (these trained professionals!) wants nothing more than to tell you about the books they adore and to help you find something for everyone on your list, including you. I promise you’ll find things you like and even love.

I bought it all for you.

- Rebecca Fitting, co-owner and head buyer, Greenlight Bookstore

Shop at Greenlight online!

See the Greenlight staff’s Holiday Picks!

RSVP for our anniversary, where you can get 20% off in our Prospect Lefferts Gardens store on 11/25!

The Man Booker Prize 2017 Longlist

Congratulations to this year’s Man Booker Prize Longlist finalists! Above are some of the thirteen books picked this year.

By the way, did you know that Greenlight’s First Editions Club (FEC) chose four of the books on this list? That means subscribers got signed, first edition copies! We choose one book a month -- a book we feel is important and valuable, but also a book we love and want to share with our customers.

It’s a great gift for any reader in your life, especially if that reader is you.  Learn more, or find out which ones we picked for FEC!