Community rallies around East Bay bookstore after devastating fire

OAKLAND — Despite a devastating fire late last month that destroyed a popular East Bay bookstore, community supporters are already celebrating the store’s spirit through pop-up events, neighborhood book pickups and literary fundraisers.

Just over two weeks after Oakland-based East Bay Booksellers was gutted by flames, an outpouring of community support has raised more than $215,000 to help the store’s owner and staff get back on their feet.

“It’s pretty overwhelming,” said Brad Johnson, the bookstore’s owner. “I wasn’t prepared for that level of financial support.”

The online fundraiser calls the store a “community home, an intellectual home, an artistic home and literary home.” It has garnered more than 2,000 donations and was approaching a $250,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon..

Many who donated also left heartfelt messages for the owners.

“I love this place so much and I sincerely hope we can rebuild,” one donor wrote.

“Bookstores are my safe space and where I go to seek comfort on hard days and celebrate on good days. And EBB was my favorite, a gem of Oakland that I felt truly lucky to have in my neighborhood,” read another.

Johnson credits the “deep roots” of the bookstore – first laid by the store’s predecessor, Diesel Books, then grown by the East Bay Booksellers team – for the rush of aid. The owners of the previous store were quick to organize the online fundraiser to support Johnson, a former employee.

The bookstore has gotten support and encouragement from around the world, he said – not only financially, but also through emails and messages from people who are confident “that (the store) can figure it out.”

“It’s encouraging, it’s inspiring and it’s motivating as I attempt to figure out a way of getting us into some form of business again,” Johnson said.

The fire was a “shock,” Johnson said, not only for him but also for the store’s staff. Fire officials said earlier this week that they believe the blaze’s origin was accidental in nature.

Johnson added that the majority of the donations will go toward continuing paying the salaries and benefits of staff.

“They’re resting and, you know, figuring out how to approach their day right now,” Johnson said. He added: “We’re all adjusting to the sudden imposed change on our life.”

Between the insurance payout and the funds raised, East Bay Booksellers will be able to pay about a year’s worth of wages, Johnson said. The funding will also enable Johnson to look for a temporary location to do business.

Until then, Johnson has been working to find creative ways to continue fulfilling online orders and operating the bookstore without a brick and mortar space, he said.

He is working to find a way for patrons to pick up online orders that were placed before the fire. The bookstore will also host a pop-up event August 24 at Atomic Gardens, a store nearby, where Johnson plans to sell tote bags and other items, he said.

“I can figure out ways of being a bookseller, which is what I am – I found fairly late in life that’s what I was built to do,” Johnson said. “If I can figure out ways of doing it that are different than how I was, who’s to say what sort of lessons that can impart on down the line when I’m doing it in a more normal way.”

The book deliveries and pop-ups will allow Johnson to stay in business – though making “a fraction” of what the store normally would in a month – until the insurance claim kicks in and he can find a temporary space, he said.

The store also hosted a poetry reading that had been planned before the fire – but transformed it into a fundraising event with books donated by fellow bookstores, Johnson said. The event was held at Gilman Street Brewery, one of the businesses that stepped up to help Johnson.

“Whatever we sold, basically that goes entirely back to us,” he added. “Creative ways of (fundraising) is just very gratifying, very cool.”

“It keeps me from feeling too much self-pity about all of this, because it actually is showing your community rallying around a store that they want to support,” he added.

Kar Johnson, a bookseller friend of Brad Johnson who manages Green Apple Books in San Francisco, organized a literary fundraiser on Sunday to raise funds for the store. The event, which will be hosted at Gilman Brewing Company in Berkeley, will feature readings from five authors.

The event is free and donations are encouraged, according to the Eventbrite page.

Johnson said he hopes to eventually return to the iconic building East Bay Booksellers used to inhabit, but the bookstore’s space was rented and the building’s owner will oversee the insurance claims and rebuilding, he said.