Just Book-ish, a new bookstore and community space on the ground level of the Dot Crossing building in Fields Corner, celebrated its grand opening with more than 200 exultant guests on Saturday, including Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Mayor Wu, who read to children and hailed the new Dot Ave business.
“This is a time for new ideas,” said Pressley, who helped cut the ribbon outside the storefront’s entrance at 1463 Dorchester Ave. She later added in a statement: “With book bans on the rise, I’m grateful for spaces like these that protect our intellectual freedom and right to read.”
The event was a particularly triumphant moment for the two people who worked with an ever-growing team of boosters over the last three years to make the project happen: Bing Broderick and Porsha Olayiwola, both residents of Dorchester.
The two became close while organizing poetry events at the Haley House Bakery Café in Roxbury’s Nubian Square about ten years ago. Olayiwola has served as Boston’s poet laureate while Broderick formerly managed the Haley House. Together, they marshalled support for a competitive bid that earned them the right to build out the retail space in the Dot Crossing building, which rose from what was once the single-story Gallagher Insurance office. The new five-story building, which opened to tenants in 2023, also includes 29 units of affordable housing on the upper floors built by developer Travis Lee.
Bill Walczak, an early supporter of the Just Book-ish project, with his daughter Elizabeth Walczak and grandchildren Emi, right, and Siena Carapezza. Bill Forry photo
The Just Book-ish project was aided by tens of thousands of dollars in grants from large foundations and small dollar contributions from individual donors, including neighbors who pitched in as little as $10 to aid the cause, according to Broderick. Viet-AID, the community organization located about a block away on Charles Street, served as the store’s fiscal agent, helping it win funding from the city of Boston to further assist in start-up costs.
In an interview with The Reporter earlier this year, Broderick said more than $1 million had been raised for the bookstore’s nonprofit entity — Words as Worlds— through May, with more fundraising planned.
The co-owners say the space will be programmed frequently to include author talks and book signings and other community-centered events. The timing of the bookstore’s opening is fortuitous in that the Fields Corner branch of the Boston Public Library—located about a block from the store— has just closed for a two-year reconstruction project.
The store’s inventory of books is described as “culturally curated, radically influenced, and locally inspired.”
[The store] “seeks to shift the narrative in the publishing world by housing a collection of books by writers whose work often challenges political paradigms,” the co-founders explain on their website. “Partnering with numerous organizations and artists, it offers a centralized hub and networking space in a cozy and comfortable book-cafe setting. In addition to philanthropic support, revenue from books and beverages will help to offset the cost of operations and programming.”
The store also features a small counter-service café, which will feature coffee and small bites.
Just Book-ish is open Tuesday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be closed on Monday. One of its first scheduled events is a “Lyric Lounge Youth Open Mic” from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 13. For more information, see justbook-ish.com.
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