今日吃瓜

Since opening in 2023 Queer book shop Shelf Lovers has become a vibrant space for the queer community in Brisbane.

Now the venue is seeking to expand to help provide additional space for the community.

Shelf Lovers seeking community support to expand

The Brisbane community have embraced Shelf Lovers as a hub for not just books but also a place to meet and celebrate as a community.

2024 saw Kat and her team host a range of events including the highly successful Drag Story Time, book launches and speaking events.

鈥淎 big focus for us in establishing the store was to create a space where the community could come together and people could engage and connect with others,鈥� owner Kat told the Star Observer last year.

鈥淥ur aim in the events we hold is to encourage inclusivity, and we believe that Drag Story Time events are a great way to do this. Drag Story Time showcases different ways people can express their gender and identities. The events are also a fun way to get kids (and their families) to engage with reading and can help build greater acceptance.鈥�

Now Kat and her team want to see the space expand and are calling for community support to help ensure Shelf Lovers remain the successful community hub it has become.

Taking to social media recently Shelf Lovers put out a call for community support.

鈥淪helf Lovers, like other independent bookstores, is special – we sell books and cute things, but we also offer a safe space where everyone is welcome. We host events, facilitate community connections and support local and indie authors and artists鈥� they wrote.

鈥淲e support and promote local LGBTQ+ services and programs and are a place where book lovers and members of the LGBTQIA + community can find a sense of belonging.鈥�

鈥淲e do all of this and much more and now we’re asking for your help. We rely entirely on our community to help sustain us through both the good and slower times鈥� they continued.

鈥淲e literally can’t do what we do without your support. So please, show us some love this February and help us be around for a long time to come!鈥�

Support can be offered in a number of ways, as they reminded supporters they can purchase books online, join their new membership program, support them through audiobook purchases as well as sharing their social media content.

They also announced they have to help update their space as a useful space for the queer community in Brisbane.

鈥淲e’ve launched a Kickstarter to help us transform our upstairs space into a multi-use safe space for the community, as well as help us with a bit of promotion. Any help would be greatly appreciated!鈥�

鈥淥ur current premises is a two-level building – the shop is on the bottom level and on the top level we have a basic meeting room that is only used occasionally and a largely undeveloped space. We would like to change this鈥� they wrote.

鈥淲e are looking to turn our upstairs space into a comfortable and cosy (but also useful) area, extending the bright and welcoming atmosphere of the shop below and outfitting it with comfy chairs, tables and other furniture. We would like to add to the facilities in the meeting room, improving the general usability, as well as add a self-service snack and drink station to the already existing kitchenette.鈥�

鈥淲e would like to name the space the Shelf Lovers Meeting Room and Snuggery and make it available for community groups (with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ groups), authors, support workers, teens, readers and others. We envision the space being used for a range of purposes.鈥�

Since starting the fundraiser they have raised almost $3,000 of their $10,000 goal, .