In the wake of laws surrounding book bans in Florida, Shelf Indulgence has redesigned a book bus that will allow banned books to become more accessible to readers in Sarasota. Wrapped in purple paint and featuring the classics, the banned book bus is filled with shelves of stories you can’t find everywhere.
About 6 years ago, the mother-daughter team, Donna Frey and Nichole Snyder, turned Nikki’s dream of opening a used bookstore and coffee shop into a reality. By using Nikki’s background in hospitality and restaurant management and Donna’s as a retired reading specialist, they successfully created Shelf Indulgence.
“We really are just two book lovers that saw a need for a community-orientated bookstore in Sarasota,” Nikki Snyder tells Her Campus. “The thing that is so special about Shelf is that all are welcome here, we really are a close-knit community and truly feel like people that inhabit our space are not customers, but friends and family.”
For the two owners, redesigning a yellow school bus into a bright purple book bus filled with shelves of banned books was an idea that finally came off the back burner. Although they considered the idea of renovating a bus daunting, the plan was set in motion when Snyder found an already functioning book bus for sale on Facebook Marketplace. After contacting the owners, Snyder flew to Ohio to check out the bus and then drove it down to Florida after buying it a couple of months later.
While the original idea was for the bus to act as a mobile book fair, it morphed into the banned book bus.
“The rise of censorship and the removal of materials from our local schools and libraries prompted us to switch the focus of the bus to raising awareness of banned and challenged books,” Snyder says. “I think it’s really important to make people aware of censorship locally and to make these banned and challenged titles available to anyone that wants them.”
This idea originated after schools around the country, including those in Sarasota County, have been experiencing book bans and censorship. According to PEN America, there was a 33% percent increase in book bans this year compared to last, with more than 40% of the bans happening in Florida. Totaling more than 1,400 books removed from schools, Florida now leads as the state with the most book ban cases in the country.
Therefore, after crowdfunding $12,000 for the entire cost of the paint job, the bus has participated in several events around the community. This includes ALSO Youth and the Banned Book Read-In at Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, as well as the NEA Freedom to Learn Rally in Orlando, where they partnered with MoveOn.org to hand out banned books.
All this is possible for Shelf Indulgence and the banned book bus because of the community that rallied around the store and bus. The big, purple bus has educated people who were unaware of the materials being removed from schools and, according to the owners, made a difference in the fight against censorship.
Kelly Caouette, a customer at Shelf Indulgence can see how the book bus and bookstore can bring the community together. “This is my first visit, and I had no idea this has been here for 6 years,” Caouette tells Her Campus.
When asked if she was aware that the bookstore-café had recently got a book bus, Caouette was surprised. “I’m learning it from you, but that sounds cool. I think that the book bus will bring awareness to the community with how crazy all these book bans have been. Some of my favorites, like Make Way for Ducklings are on that list.”
Shelf Indulgence enjoys collaborating with other small businesses, even outside of the community. For Banned Books Week, Shelf Indulgence collaborated with People’s Book, a woman-owned, general-purpose bookstore in Takoma Park, Maryland. People’s Book shipped a box filled with banned books that Shelf Indulgence was able to include in their book bus.
“We were looking for other indie stores in states dealing with censorship issues and their book mobile seemed like the perfect choice,” the People’s Book social media manager tells Her Campus. “They were so responsive, they made collaboration easy! It’s nice to know that we could do something for Banned Books Week besides just raising awareness.”
Shelf Indulgence posted on their Instagram after receiving the box, showing how much they appreciated the donation; “Thank you @peoplesbooktakoma for all these amazing banned books! We can’t wait to distribute these titles to our local community at our upcoming book bus events!”
If more of the Sarasota community or others want to help contribute to the book bus or Shelf Indulgence as a whole, the owners never turn down book or cash donations. Even stopping into the shop and buying a paperback book or coffee helps them keep the book community alive in Sarasota. The book bus would also love to be at community events as Snyder and Shelf Indulgence love to talk about books with the community.
If you want to support the local bookstore café and the banned book bus, you can shop their current inventory online. By supporting Shelf Indulgence or any local bookstore that sells banned books, you can support the fight to end censorship and spread awareness of what states are doing in schools and elsewhere.