What are the 3 adjectives you would use to describe your bookstore?

Engaging, Inclusive, Neighborhood-driven

Share a quote from a book or poem that bares your bookstore’s soul.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

James Baldwin

Why was your bookstore founded/what role does it play in the community?

We want to be a welcoming and engaging space in our community. We encourage everyone- visitors, event presenters, volunteers, and staff- to be proactive in creating an atmosphere where the safety of others is validated. We are dedicated to making literature accessible to all communities, and we exclusively feature underrepresented voices on our shelves. We are devoted to being a safer space for communities to access education, representation, and change through literacy, artistry, and skill-building.

Which champion/warrior/wildcat (real or mythological) does your bookstore channel most?

We took the opportunity to have lots of discussions about this question at Indigo Bridge. We came to agree that our bookstore most channels Ben Hargreeves, number six, from The Umbrella Academy. Ben is kind, vulnerable, and empathetic. He is almost exclusively an observer, but this enables him to be most available in times of need. We aim to channel Ben Hargraves’ heart as we sit in the core of the South of Downtown neighborhood. If you were to walk by our building at the beginning of 2021, you would find a gray, unmarked building with great windows but very bare-bones. We have ambitions to provide abundant literary resources and a refuge for our community’s most vulnerable people. You may not always be at Indigo Bridge. However, we are still carefully observing, intentionally stocking our shelves, and ready to be of service.

What makes your bookstore unique?

We like to think everything about our bookstore is unique. We were established 12 years ago as a hybrid between a retail store and a non-profit, officially an LLC, L3C. Alongside our bookselling, we work to give back to our community by donating books, funds, and other resources. As an example, for every subscription box we sell, a subscription box goes back to the community. We are led by a diverse team that is committed to constantly unlearning and relearning to create a safer space for our community. We even relocated during a pandemic. For 12 years, we were located in a historic building in downtown Lincoln, NE. However, over the years, the area became harder and harder for our customers to access with barriers like parking, tourism, and gentrification. When our doors closed in late March, we seized the opportunity to relocate to a nearby neighborhood and are currently renovating a different historic building. You can find more information about that here. We expect the renovations to be completed by late May 2021 and look forward to seeing folks in person again. For now, we are operating online and working to reach our community in new and creative ways. We hope to debut our podcast Indigo Bridge Presents featuring books, community leaders, authors, and more very soon!