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New way to love a bookstore: sponsor a shelf

Readers eager to support their local bookstores might want to consider paying to sponsor a bookshelf. 

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Ann Hermes
American history and culture books line a bookshelf at the 'Discovering Columbus' exhibit in 2012 in New York, New York.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

By now you’re probably familiar with sponsorship in movies, at sports stadiums, or on highways. How about sponsored bookshelves?

The Washington, D.C. bookstore Teaching for Change Bookstore at Busboys and Poets is asking the public to consider taking one of their shelves for the sponsor’s very own. The cost would start at $2,500 annually, according to the bookstore’s website. Busboys and Poets is a restaurant and coffee shop. 

“Teaching for Change needs donations and sponsorships (tax-deductible) to keep the bookstore in operation, curate the selection of books, and coordinate author events,” bookstore staff wrote on the website.

In exchange for their sponsorship, a plaque would be put on the sponsor’s space in a “prominent” manner, according to the store site. More than 20 shelves are available. 

“Sponsoring a bookshelf is a great way for associations and organizations to reach a diverse audience and be recognized for your generosity,” store staff wrote. 

Teaching for Change isn’t the only store to have focused on the idea – Indianapolis’s Indy Reads Books also has a page on its site about sponsoring a shelf at their location. Plaques with the name of the sponsor are also put on shelves there.

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