The Reading Room CLE

09/03/2026

It's 5 p.m. at last. Dolly Parton has clocked out, and we have to clock in.

Wendell Berry has hoed his last row, and the fall sowing is on us.

And now Gloria Steinem has set down her microphone.

None of us will ever feel ready to take up the work before us. But today we're boxing books, to go to the Cleveland Kids' Book Bank and the Cuyahoga County Jail.

Bookseller Alex is shelving the most recent donation of plant books from the Cleveland Botanical Garden; the next farmer poet will have their copy of Farm And Garden Rules ready to hand.

And today a Reader said, "I never got to take a women's history class." So I showed her the spot where David Holmes parked last week's donation from the Stone Mather Center for Women. She bought three books.

It's better to light a single candle than to sit and curse the dark. Our are lit, and burning.

09/01/2026

We can't wait for Friday!

08/31/2026

"Hey Story Club Cleveland , I'm going to be late for our co-working day because I'm at a pop-up micro cafe run by a coffee roasting food activist in Kinsman.

In my defense: it's delicious. You would also make this choice."

08/31/2026

We had such a great time at the Book Fest Kickoff! Thanks to Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards for bringing us all together, and thanks to our volunteers Julie Hudson and Steven Webster for staffing the table all day!

08/25/2026

UPDATE: NO MORE APPLICATIONS PLEASE

WE HAVE ENOUGH
SO MANY
NARWHAL HORN IS OVERBURDENED WITH RESUMES
IT IS CREATING TOO MUCH DRAG
CANNOT STEER

(Applicants will be contacted ASAP)

----

We are hiring.

General nonprofit administrative work, onsite in the bookstore, starting at 4 hours a week, Thursdays or Fridays between 12 and 7.

$25/hr, contract, W-9. Just money, no benefits.

This is a herd of unicorns, headed by an extremely clumsy and oversized narwhal, and no one likes doing the filing. If you're more of a draft horse type, but you can get along with a bunch of skittish cryptids, send a resume and brief email introducing yourself to [email protected].

If you're tempted to use AI to write the email, we are not a fit. If you're tempted to sidestep the process above by contacting the Bookseller in some other way, we are not a fit. Everyone has a sharp pokey horn around here; plan accordingly.

Photo from WWF.

08/17/2026

This exhibit and the lectures and workshops that have gone along with it have been great. If you haven't made it there yet, GO!

08/16/2026

08/14/2026

You can find our art and so many of our friends’ art at Forest City Vault! Stop by Parallel Universe Books while you’re there!