COLUMBIA — Tayler Simon knows reading is political, and she’s tired of people pretending it isn’t.
Simon is the creator of Liberation is Lit, an online used bookseller focused on collective action and community building through diverse literature. She hopes open a brick-and-mortar location of the bookstore in Columbia.
“It’s not just a place to come find your favorite titles,” Simon said. “You can do that, but you can also come gather and meet and learn about different social issues.”
Another e-commerce outlet, Queer Haven Books, recently made the jump from internet to analog. The LGBT-focused bookshop will open in the Arcade Mall on Main Street.
Fighting book bans
Simon believes seeing oneself represented in literature is powerful. She is concerned that book bans and attempts to strip rights from marginalized people can isolate them by taking away avenues of self discovery and connectedness.
Currently, Simon shows up in person to sell books at various markets, including Soda City almost every Saturday, and to advocate for the rights of Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) on a state level.
“It is also about having community to lean on, so that when you need to step back and take care of yourself, there are other people to do the work,” Simon said. “I’m really interested in that form of community building and community organizing because a lot of the time it can feel overwhelming.”
Liberation is Lit is a nomadic e-commerce site selling used books, cultivating community and fostering activism in Columbia, SC.
Raising money to open brick-and-mortar
Simon is currently focusing on developing a “Liberation Fund” to support community members who want to purchase books, learn to self publish or attend workshops and classes. But first, she needs to raise enough money to open in person.
So far, she has raised $3,000 towards a goal of $75,000 to pay a year’s rent at a storefront, hire staff (at a living wage) and open the doors of a storefront for Liberation is Lit in Columbia.
“When we have a storefront I really want it to be a place for different community groups, different activist groups, different book clubs to gather and find a place of community but also a place to come together and bridge across different identities,” Simon said.
Liberation is Lit started as a blog in 2019, after Simon finished her Masters in Social Work. Simon wanted to write about what she was reading after finding social media spaces centered around books often lacked political analysis.
Before she began to pursue Liberation is Lit full time in June 2023, Simon worked in interpersonal violence prevention. She is also a self-published author and self-described “book coach,” helping others to pursue writing and self publishing.
She recently published a book intended to help BIPOC authors and other marginalized authors through the process of self publishing, called “Writing Our Truths.”
Volunteers performs acts of 'micro-reparations'
Danielle Coleman, a social work student at the University of South Carolina and intern at Liberation is Lit, said it’s important that the bookstore is headed by someone with social work experience and a strong understanding of both the community around her and the political climate.
Coleman said she is especially aware of the importance of accessibility of literature when she is at markets with Simon talking about book bans and authors of color, and engaging with community members who cannot necessarily afford to shop.
Liberation is Lit is a nomadic e-commerce site selling used books, cultivating community and fostering activism in Columbia, SC.
“In our downtown, especially, we have a big homeless population and we have a lot of vulnerable populations who might not be able to afford a book,” Coleman said. “The funding will allow us to be able to do that for somebody.”
Marla Taviano, a poet and friend of Simons, is helping her by collecting used books for her storefront at various thrift stores. Once she has collected a box of books, she crowdsources money to sponsor the box of books and donates it to Simon.
She frames sponsoring the books as a form of “micro-reparations.” She said while the government drags its feet getting reparations for Black people, there are little things White people can do individually to be supportive.
“I just think that a Black woman is working really, really hard to liberate people through literature and to teach anti-racism,” Taviano said. “She shouldn't have to hustle every minute of every day to do that, so for me, it's just a way to provide her with a little bit of ease.”
