Jackson Heights, Queens is a fabulously multiethnic and queer neighborhood in a city of immigrants founded by colonial-types and enslaved peoples on unceded Lenape land. We have a progressive local political scene, strong workers rights groups, some of the best street life in the city, and more than a hundred spoken languages, but no English-language bookstore—until now.

In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Open Borders Books was born from an expansive idea of the reading community and the urgent need to bring vital and challenging voices to diverse audiences in COVID-safe ways. We aim to engage the world with curiosity and openness, to build community with our neighbors based on sharing the best of what we’ve got with everyone who lives here with us.

On Sundays, you can find us selling books in the street on 34th Avenue near the Jackson Heights Greenmarket, but while we're working around the clock to source used books, you can purchase darn near anything new through our Bookshop.org storefront. And from Monday through Saturday, you can browse our used books on our Instagram page and have them hand-delivered to your home in the neighborhood, gratis.

Best of all, half of all our proceeds go to Make the Road NY or another local aid organization, while the other half goes toward establishing a physical location for a bookshop here in the neighborhood. And, as with all bookshop.org purchases, 10% of the purchase price on Bookshop.org will support existing independent bookstores.