Anderson's Bookshop Counting On GoFundMe In Coronavirus Crisis

NAPERVILLE, IL — Anderson's Bookshop has been a staple of the Naperville area since the late 1870s, when the family's grandfather sold books as part of his pharmacy. Now, more than 150 years later, the new coronavirus shutdown has put the beloved bookstore in peril of closing all its stores throughout the Naperville area.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, the independently-owned Anderson's Bookshop must still help its employees and pay rent at its bookstore locations in Naperville, Downers Grove and LaGrange. They also need help maintaining Anderson's Toyshop in Naperville and their Aurora-based school book fair division.

Because Anderson's is a small business, they have relied on in-person book sales and events throughout the years that helped them rally to stay open when other bigger bookstores like Borders shut their doors. The coronavirus shutdown made those crucial in-person sales and events temporarily a thing of the past, leaving the owners scrambling to make do.

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The bookstore owners recently started a GoFundMe in the hopes of helping to keep the business afloat during these challenging times. The GoFundMe description reads, "It’s hit us all hard and stifled our world. We may not all be infected, but we are all affected. We cannot thank you enough for your loyalty and helping us to thrive. Our business has relied on cash flow and foot traffic over generations as your home for books here in Illinois. Without those channels, our future is uncertain."

Thus far, residents throughout the area have come together to rush to the aid of the struggling bookstores. Since launching the GoFundMe, Anderson's Bookshop has raised more than $46,000 from more than 800 donors, but they're still shy of their $100,000 goal.

They've also seen an influx of online orders. So many, in fact, that online ordering was temporarily suspended as of Wednesday to allow workers to catch up with the demand, according to the Anderson's Bookshop website.

Residents who want to help can click the link to donate to Anderson's Bookshop.

Anderson's Bookshops did not immediately respond to a request for comments and additional information Wednesday morning.

Illinois Coronavirus Update April 15: 23,247 Cases; 868 Deaths