Following its May debut, Book Nook in Baldwin, N.Y., held a grand opening and ribbon cutting on Wednesday, July 22, News12 Long Island reported.
Located at 1205 Grand Ave., Book Nook is Long Island's only Black-owned bookstore and sells books for all ages with an emphasis on diversity and amplifying historically-marginalized voices. Owners and married couple Marlene Munn and Roberto Joseph have hosted storytime sessions and author discussions, and they hope Book Nook becomes a gathering hub and third space for the Baldwin community.
"I just thought that this was a great community to be in," Munn told the Long Island Herald last month. "I felt that there were a lot of professionals here, and I thought it would be an asset."
Prior to opening Book Nook, Munn had a career in education, as a social studies teacher in Queens and as a professor of education at Hofstra University and Long Island University's Brooklyn campus.
Her background in education informs much of what she does at Book Nook, and Munn plans to "develop programming so that kids can begin to converse about what they're reading and find people who are interested in some of the same things that they're interested in." Munn also intends to partner with and platform local writers, both traditionally and independently published.
Per Long Island Life & Politics, Book Nook is Baldwin's only independent bookstore.
At Wednesday's ribbon cutting, Munn told News 12 the community's feedback has been great. "Everybody that comes in here tells us, 'this is what we needed.' "