A Queens bookshop reflects the diversity of Jackson Heights through literature

storytelling

Have you ever been to a space that instantly puts you at ease, away from the daily grind of life? Maybe that's a pocket park or quaint coffee shop in your neighborhood. WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk is highlighting some of these treasures across the five boroughs. In this segment, we visit a Queen's bookshop that exclusively sells BIPOC literature to reflect the community around it.

The transcript of this segment has been lightly edited for clarity

Adrian Cepeda:

I am Ecuadorian-American, and I own The World's Borough Bookshop right here in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, where I grew up. A few things played a role into me wanting to open up the bookshop. One of those being that I went to school for literature. And that was the first time I ever read a book where the character reflected me. That's one of the main reasons why I decided to open a shop. So I can have different BIPOC authors in here amplified to reflect the neighborhood I live in because on top of Queens being the most diverse borough, Jackson Heights itself is extremely diverse. A lot of times, people are just learning about their culture through these books because they've never seen a Bengali writer, a Tibetan writer, and they are finally able to see that reflected in front of them all over the store.

Hillary Tacuri:

With me being Ecuadorian myself, it's really great to see someone also Ecuadorian fostering this bookish space here, going in and seeing all these books by BIPOC authors just out on the shelves, and just finally being able to see myself reflected with intention and care.

It was such a different experience compared to the other bookstores that I've been to.

Milenka Bermanova:

The World's Borough Bookshop is really important to me. I kind of view it as a second home. Finding this store was a big turning point in getting me a little bit out of an era of isolation in my life. I'll come here after work and just talk to Adrian or whoever's here, and it just lifts my mood to have conversations with people. So it's definitely a pick-me-up place and a home base at the same time.