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Read the press release here.

Pop-Up Bookstore to Stick Around Until End of September

By Carla Zanoni | July 13, 2011 6:31pm
WordUp Books
WordUp Books
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Flickr/WordUpBooks

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Book lovers can breathe a sigh of relief — Washington Heights' pop-up bookstore will be sticking around past summer.

The Word Up Bookstore, at 4157 Broadway, near 176th Street, was originally set to close Wednesday, July 14, after being open for a month. But it was given a more than two-month reprieve by landlord Vantage Properties.

“We can stay through the end of September!” reads a message on the store's website of its new September 30 closing date.

The creators, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and Veronica Liu, a Washington Heights resident and the managing editor for publisher Seven Stories Press, celebrated the news, but quickly got down to business.

“Now that we aren’t moving out this Thursday, July 14, we need more help to sustain this space over the longer term,” Liu wrote on the store’s site, asking for a computer, toilet paper and towels, fans and other supplies as well as help fixing the store’s broken air conditioner and doing other repair work.

Those who are interested can email info@wordupbooks.com for more information or to make a donation.

Liu says that getting the word out about Word Up is just as important as making repair work and volunteering time and things.

“Making latent thoughts known played a big part in pushing this community bookshop into existence,” the store's website says. “Your voices, talking, asking, participating, coaxing, have helped make this happen.”

For now, the creators are focused on getting through the summer, but many are already asking if the shop might be able to stick around longer.

“We shall see,” Liu wrote. “First things first.”

Word Up is open from 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.