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Community Capital 109<br />
So it is especially rankling when another indie favorite is<br />
teetering on the brink. In the literary equivalent <strong>of</strong> cops saving<br />
a doughnut shop, a group <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essors from the local university<br />
stepped up to invest in Tsunami Books in Eugene, Oregon, when<br />
they heard <strong>of</strong> its impending demise in 2005. 3<br />
In Brooklyn, we’ve had our share <strong>of</strong> bookworms in shining<br />
armor. In 2007, Catherine Bohne was distraught over the thought that<br />
The Community Bookstore, a neighborhood institution she bought<br />
from its founder in 2001, might go under. When a regular customer<br />
got wind <strong>of</strong> the situation, she alerted other loyal customers and they<br />
rallied to Bohne’s defense. One helped Bohne work up a business<br />
plan and renegotiate a bank loan, while 12 other locals, including<br />
actor John Turturro, kicked in $10,000 apiece for a stake in the store. 4<br />
One investor <strong>of</strong> modest means even took out a loan to invest. A year<br />
later, with shelves again fully stocked, sales were up 40 percent. 5<br />
The Community Bookstore continues to provide the kinds <strong>of</strong><br />
services that have made it indispensable to the neighborhood. It<br />
sponsors book clubs and a mystery- book swap, and it <strong>of</strong>fers free<br />
delivery. Its resident felines, Tiny and Marjorie, roam the aisles.<br />
Once a month, the bookstore hosts a Community Forum night to<br />
explore an issue or topic <strong>of</strong> interest to the neighborhood, whether<br />
green energy for the home, composting, or bat houses (before<br />
you snicker, consider that a single brown bat can eat up to 1,000<br />
mosquitoes per hour!). Bohne also helped organize a “buy local”<br />
campaign, hosting a party for merchants to kick it <strong>of</strong>f.<br />
Last year, when Bohne decided to move to a remote valley<br />
in Albania to run a guest house (bookstore owners tend to be<br />
quirky that way), another longtime customer, a writer named Ezra<br />
Goldstein, stepped up with his wife to buy the shop. “The investors<br />
have been really wonderful,” he says. “Their main concern is<br />
that the bookstore stay open.” For now, the store is barely breaking<br />
even, says Goldstein. But investors will see the value <strong>of</strong> their<br />
stakes rise modestly with the transaction. He is also cooking up<br />
new amenities to attract customers, including adding new book<br />
clubs and a fi lm series, <strong>of</strong>fering free tea and c<strong>of</strong>fee, and sprucing<br />
up the bookstore’s garden (thanks to a neighborhood landscaper<br />
who refused payment aside from two books).