GRACE Marketplace celebrated the opening of its new library space on Tuesday, a project that began in the spring when the owners of The Lynx bookstore approached the homeless services provider.
“We did a tour [with the Lynx owners] and talked about some possible spaces, and we had a great space that was the old mail room when this was Gainesville Correctional Facility many years ago,” said Leesha English, GRACE Marketplace director of annual giving. “It was acting as book donation storage already, so it was the perfect swap over to get it cleaned up and ready to go for the library.”
The new area has room for over 1,300 books, which were donated by The Lynx Watch, Inc., the bookstore’s nonprofit arm, as well as Penguin Random House Books, Alachua County Library District’s Friends of the Library, and Russ and Mary Sibley.
“With our nonprofit, we focus primarily on banned books, so the ones that we purchased from our nonprofit are books that have been banned or challenged throughout the United States,” said Jackie Davison, operations manager for The Lynx. “On top of that, we wanted to have a mix available. There’s fiction, romance, fantasy, horror, graphic novels, science, history – the full array – in hopes that everybody can find something they want to read.”
Davison said Lynx staff members and volunteers cleaned, repainted and stocked the library throughout the hot summer months. Meghan Haile, a Lynx employee, added a colorful mural depicting Florida flora and fauna. The nonprofit also donated new lighting and a rug to complete the space.
“This is the largest project we’ve done,” Davison said. “It just turned into a labor of love. We wanted to paint and clean it up and make it really beautiful because we believe that everybody deserves a beautiful space to enjoy literature.”
English said the space will officially open to GRACE Marketplace guests next week.
“We’ve had guests walking by, and they’re super excited to see all the books going on the shelves and such a fun space come together,” she said.
As time goes on, Davison said The Lynx and GRACE Marketplace will continue to work together to take stock of needs for additional books or other donations to keep the library functional.
“Our store and nonprofit were both founded with the ethos that we want to spread literature and spread books throughout the community,” Davison said. “It’s not just a business – it’s about forming community.”
