For all avid readers looking for a diverse selection of used books at a fair price, this newly-launched online store is an absolute must to check out! After launching in March, Em & Em’s Books has been spearheading a diversity-minded outlook in their bookselling initiative. On top of their inclusive mindset for the online bookshop, the pair also donates a percentage of their monthly profit to various nonprofit organizations. This stellar start-up is surely poised to make a difference!
As Em & Em’s takes off in full this month with the growth of their online bookshop, let’s learn more about the owners and how best to support their mission of supporting diverse authors and encouraging diverse readership.
More Diversity!
The “Em’s” behind this endeavor are entrepreneurs Emily Graham and Emma Hayes. These two friends from Buffalo felt inclined to kickstart their own bookselling operation after noticing consistent underrepresentation of diverse authors in most bookshops.
Their website details:
We were tired (and angry) of going through mainstream stores and seeing the types of books and authors we wanted either not stocked or pushed into an out of the way, unseen corner. It’s a type of “under-representation” that hurts, you know. So instead of asking the systems to change we decided to be the change we wanted.
Em and Em’s Books, Company FAQ
Thus, jumping into action, Em and Em’s Books was born! Per their business description, they are “100% queer, and partially Native-owned” with a specialty in diverse reading.
As of now, the used book shop is concentrated to their online store with some pop-up events. However, the two “Em’s” hope to find a physical location sometime in the future. All the more reason to show their shop some much-deserved love as their operation takes off!
Shop Offerings
If you take a scroll through their online catalog, Em & Em’s Books provides plenty of familiar favorites and new discoveries from a wide span of authors and genres. Each used book is listed at an affordable price (somewhere around the 5 dollar mark), making it a great destination for book lovers on a budget.
Can’t decide what you’re in the mood for? Try their “Mystery Date With A Book” offering, whose concealed cover lures you in with a page count, genre tags, and a brief one-liner.
Live in NY? Em & Em’s will also have a handful of pop-up events in and around the Buffalo area in late August and through the fall. The details for those events can be found here.
Oh, and Cats!
As if this small business couldn’t get any more charming, just wait until you see their two hardworking felines/employees. I already know beyond all doubt that they deserve consistent employee of the month awards for the foreseeable future! I also know that books and cats in general are a match made in heaven. To get a wholesome dose of both, check out Em & Em’s Instagram.
In all, Em & Em’s Books is leading the way to change in the bookselling game. Their focus on bringing diversity to the forefront of the bookish community is crucial, especially considering the recent onslaught of book-banning efforts which seek to restrict diverse readership. Thus, it’s an ever-timely moment to take inspiration from this newly-launched bookshop to be the change, and read boldly and broadly. On that note, make sure to support Em & Em’s socials, check out their website, and subscribe to their monthly newsletter for special updates on their restocks and events.
For more Bookstr content on diverse voices, please click here.