Making THE ART OF BOOKS a reality

A bookshop is more than just a retail business.
A bookshop is a magnet around which culture and conversation gathers. Bookstores inspire, delight, and spark the imagination.
A place to meet, think, dream, a place perhaps to fall in love - with a new author or the person sitting next to you - bookshops foster relationships, personal and collective growth.
Even in our age of dizzying technological advances, a good, nurturing independent bookshop is an irreplaceable and integral part of a community and our society.

The people supporting this project and I, we are firm belivers in the power and value of books and bookstores in shaping and cohering communities. By opening an independent bookshop I feel honored to share my longheld passion for books, reading, and conversing about them in a friendly atmosphere.

I am committed to shaping THE ART OF BOOKS as a gathering place and introduce a tradition of literary events at the shop. I will endeavor to widen the store's literary reach, highlighting small publishers and books you might not discover elsewhere, and recommend them with heartfelt passion. And I will aim to make the shop a hub of learning and discovery, bringing in new ideas and educational experiences for all ages.

If nothing else, I've heard from many people that seeing independent bookshops continue to open, expand, and change hands in the age of such supposed doom and gloom about the printed word inspires hope. I see part of this project's impact in contributing to that sense of hope, and reminding Bonn and the wider community that bookshops still have a place here.

Opening an independent bookshop is no pony farm, as a German idiom will have it. It needs community support to make it a successful reality.

THE ART OF BOOKS asks for your contribution to strengthen the much needed investment capital. To offer a broad bilingual selection of great books, we need some 25.000 euro. On top of that, all these brilliant pieces literally need a place to stay while waiting for someone to pick them up and take home.
I will use the collected money to build bookshelves – and because there isn't much space in the shop: they will be high shelves. .
If - on top - we make the 12.000 euro mark as well, I will be able to throw some book steps and leaders into the mix, so you and I will be able to reach the books from up there.

I realize that there are innumerable ventures, projects, and organizations in need of financial support and that everyone has dreams they are chasing. If you are unable to contribute financially but share my belief in the value of bookstores, I ask that you help spread the word.
As I hope I’ve made obvious: a bookstore is only as good as its community, however large and geographically dispersed that community is. I’d love for you to become a part of this one.