For the past 13 years, The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division has been a beacon of community for queer book lovers at the LGBT Community Center, but the bookstore’s future was thrown into doubt when its co-founders, Greg Newton and Donnie Jochum, announced in December that they were planning on moving away and closing down.
Jules Wernersbach, who co-founded and owns Bushwick’s queer literary hotspot Hive Mind Books, jumped into action after hearing the news.
“I was like, that’s the last queer bookstore in Manhattan, we can’t let that go,” Wernersbach told Gay City News. “It felt really, really urgent to not lose that queer space.”
Hive Mind Books is now looking to purchase the store, which is located in room 210 at The Center. Hive Mind Books has raised more than $34,000 through GoFundMe toward a $50,000 goal by June 1 to acquire The Bureau, buy supplies to set up the café, help pay staff, and more. So far, the feedback they have gotten has been overwhelmingly positive.
After Bluestockings Cooperative in the Lower East Side closed last fall, The Bureau became the borough’s only bookseller with a primarily queer inventory. Other businesses, like the East Coast’s first gay and lesbian bookstore Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop and Womansbooks, are now long gone to history.
“With book bans the way that they are across the country and trans rights being attacked, it just seems like part of our mission is to keep queer and trans literature in circulation,” said Wernersbach, whose first bookstore celebrated its one-year anniversary in October. “This is the largest queer population in the country, and the thought that there wouldn’t be a bookstore in Manhattan to serve them seemed wild, especially since Manhattan is so rich in queer history.”
When Wernersbach reached out to them, Newton and Jochum were more than happy to oblige.
“Given that our missions align perfectly, this really is a dream come true for us,” they said in a statement. “We want to ensure that Jules, the Hive Mind Books team, and the Bureau’s team are set up for success.”
After they leave at the end of April, the plan — as long as the sale is completed — is for the store to remain continuously open.
Some changes will be coming. The store will be transitioning from a volunteer-based model to paid staff, and as part of their agreement with The Center, Wernersbach also intends to reopen its first-floor café, which has been closed for over a year. They had already been working on transitioning Hive Mind into a worker-owned cooperative, and would like to include The Bureau in the same model.
However, they assured, they intend to leave the brand itself largely untouched, and hope to continue offering the programming it’s been known for, including its book clubs, panel discussions, and readings.
“Our job is to continue the work that Donny and Greg have been doing for almost a decade and a half and to not mess it up,” Wernersbach emphasized. “They built something really special, and people really love it and love them, and it’s a big responsibility to continue that.”
Just like at Hive Mind, their goal is to open up the space to the queer community to browse, discover new titles, and meet friends, without feeling pressure to make a purchase.
The Bureau is an important place for Wernersbach personally, since it was the first bookstore they visited when they moved back to New York City in 2021. For the past two years, they’ve brought Hive Mind to The Center’s Rainbow Book Fair.
The Center’s chief operations officer, Jeffrey Klein, said the non-profit is proud to continue hosting the store.
“At a time when LGBTQ+ voices are being silenced and threatened across the country, spaces where our community connects, learns, and shares our stories are more important than ever,” they shared in a statement.
The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division is located inside The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St #210. Hive Mind Books is located at 219 Irving Avenue in Bushwick.
