With the holiday weekend bringing spare hours that many readers would like to spend reading, today we are updating the long-running DART feature on indie booksellers. If your neighborhood has hosted any more of these most-wanted treasures, please let me know! 

Bureau of General Services/Queer Division 208 West 13^th Street, Room 210, is a queer cultural center, bookstore, and event space that seeks to involve and educate a self-confident, sex-positive, and supportive queer community. It hosts readings, performances, film screenings, book discussion groups, and workshops to provide an open and inclusive space for dialog and socializing. Save the date: July 10, 7pm: French cartoonist Soizick Jaffre will be signing copies of her graphic memoir A Good Sport at the Bureau, on Wednesday, July 10th at 7:00 PM. Jaffre will discuss…more

The only independent bookstore in The Bronx The Lit.Bar is now celebrating its fifth year at its permanent location in Mott Haven: 131 Alexander Avenue (between 134th Street & Bruckner Boulevard). This neighborhood haunt is a years-long dream brought to life by proprietress Noëlle Santos. Here, readers will find a curated selection of books, plus programs for all ages that emphasize diversity. The bar itself offers plenty of seating and wine, with regular schedule of signings and family events.

Passageway Books, 150 9^th Avenue  (left) is just that—a narrow slot lined with used books that invite slowing down in the hot weather. Being in Chelsea, it leans heavily towards art and design, including hard to find gallery brochures. One visitor says, “Books are passageways to lands real and imagined, to the rich internal lives of writers and their characters, so book hunters will have fun here, but leave your bulky backpacks behind!”

Sisters Uptown, 1942 Amsterdam Avenue, is a family-owned bookstore in Washington Heights  that has become a positive staple in the community which recently celebrated 15 years of community service. VP Kori N. Wilson says, “We're not just a book store; we are a community resource center for the exchange of information and ideas. Our motto is ‘knowledge is key’. We provide an educational, emotional, spiritual and loving environment for our diverse community where all are welcomed."

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