Women's History Month: Niche Book Bar

Niche Book Bar
Pop up shop based in Milwaukee, WI
Opening soon at 1937 N Doctor M.L.K. Jr Dr, Milwaukee, WI 53212

With a mission to connect readers with a wider variety of Black literature, Cetonia Weston-Roy fashioned a cargo bicycle stocked with books by Black authors and began pulling her mobile bookstore around Milwaukee during the summer of 2020. With a brick-and-mortar bookstore currently in the works, Niche Book Bar continues to pop up at community events and at neighborhood hubs like the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace and Honeybee Sage Wellness Cafe.

How did your bookselling journey begin?

I was prompted by the thought of what a job that I would enjoy coming to everyday looked like.

What are your favorite aspects of being a bookseller?

My favorite aspects are curating the books, getting them in the mail and just looking at their beautiful covers. Sometimes I have to read them first.

What is something you wish the public knew about the bookselling profession?

I wish the public knew that taking our book recommendations and then buying from Amazon isn't helpful. That bookstores are lifelines to their communities!

What’s one book you’d like to recommend to readers right now?

I'm loving The City We Became by N.K Jemisin.

Photo courtesy of Niche Book Bar.

Support Niche Book Bar by shopping on their website. You can also choose Niche Book Bar as your designated bookshop on Bookshop.org and Libro.fm.