Ken Sanders’ Utah bookstore is turning to GoFundMe amid coronavirus | Books - Deseret News

Ken Sanders Rare Books recently started a GoFundMe to help support the Salt Lake City store, which — like many independent bookstores around the country — has faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: Brian Skoloff, Associated Press

The idea of a GoFundMe campaign for his downtown Salt Lake City store, Ken Sanders Rare Books, was a very last resort for the 68-year-old bookseller.

“I am not very good about asking for help,” Sanders admits.

But after months of weathering a pandemic with no end in sight, his friends and loyal customers finally convinced him that it was time. The shutdown that began in March had cut the store’s sales by half, and loans from both Salt Lake City and the Paycheck Protection Program have long since run out...

An independent bookstore 

Photo: Ken Sanders Rare Books, located at 268 S. 200 East in Salt Lake City.

Sanders has over 100,000 books (“some might call that excessive,” he jokes). But it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the titles a customer might find on Amazon.

Between the selection and free two-day shipping, it’s hard to compete with Amazon in terms of convenience. But Sanders argues that “independent bookstores create independent thought.
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Source: Deseret News