Children’s book author and pop-up bookstore owner Victoria Scott-Miller is opening a brick-and-mortar location of her nationally-known Liberation Station Bookstore in downtown Raleigh, N.C. this summer.
This Black-owned, family-led independent bookstore was inspired by her family’s struggle to find children’s books by Black authors or Black illustrators that featured characters of color. That experience led Scott-Miller, her husband, Duane Miller, and her sons, Langston and Emerson, to start Liberation Station Bookstore in 2019 as a pop-up shop specializing in children’s literature that centers on Black children and families. Their efforts garnered national attention from “Good Morning America,” CNN, The Washington Post, Oprah Magazine and other news outlets.
Scott-Miller, an award-winning Raleigh-based entrepreneur, documentary filmmaker, author and creator of “The Museum Lives in Me” book series, is now opening a permanent location for the bookstore on the second floor of 208 Fayetteville St. (The Original Selfie Museum is in the basement of the same building.) The bookstore will join a cluster of black-owned businesses near Raleigh’s historic Black Main Street. A grand opening celebration is set for June 17, 2023 during the city’s Juneteenth festivities. On April 4, 2023, Scott-Miller launched a crowdfunding campaign via The Bulls of Durham. Contributions can be made at https://thebullsofdurham.com/campaigns/liberation-stationed.
“This is our love letter to the city of Raleigh,” Scott-Miller said. “It’s time to plant ourselves. When I think about our work, I think about a tree. We’ve done all this work. We’ve had all this reach but it’s been from the top down. We haven’t been able to physically plant ourselves. Now we get to create a unique cultural hub that is a community-centered, community-driven space for self-discovery and the activation of our work.”
The 364-square foot space will carry more than 1,000 titles, divided into four curated sections:
- The Diaspora Wall will feature works that follow the voyage of the Transatlantic Map, including from Sierra Leone, Angola, Brazil, The West Indies and more.
- The America section will include books that reflect the vastness of Black childhood from birth to 18-years-old with an emphasis on those titles written by Black creators or independent and local authors and published by Black-owned or Black-led publishers and small presses.
- AP African American Studies will feature titles that have been banned from school curriculums or have been recommended by Black AP African American Studies educators throughout the country. Examples include James Baldwin’s “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved.”
- The Anchor section will offer pairings of adult titles with children’s books to foster intergenerational conversations. For example, author Bell Hooks’ children’s book, “Homemade Love” will be offered as a companion title to Hooks’ classic, “All About Love,” the first volume in her “Love Song to the Nation” trilogy; and Nicole Hannah-Jones’ groundbreaking “The 1619 Project” will be paired with her children’s book, “Born on the Water.”
Liberation Station Bookstore will be open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday at 208 Fayetteville St., Suite 201, Raleigh, N.C. 27601.
