Let's go for a ride! 📚🚲
Although the Nonbinarian Book Bike was started by one person, founder K. Kerimian, it has become a collaborative effort of time, labor, love, and support. Our mission as a queer and trans-led mobile mutual aid initiative is to distribute free LGBTQIA+ books for all ages throughout Brooklyn, NY. In order to grow our community and increase our reach (especially in light of anti-trans legislature, shrinking library funds, and book bans, among other acts of oppression and discrimination aimed at marginalized people), we hope to expand the Book Bike team moving forward.
Mutual aid cannot ride on the backs of one or even a few individuals. It requires robust community support and solidarity, both for the longevity of the initiative itself and for the safety and sustainability of its volunteers.
To that end, we are asking for your help to grow The Nonbinarian Book Bike team and community in order to increase our outreach and impact!
You may have recently seen a call for cyclists on our social media. We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to drive the actual, physical Book Bike to pop-ups and other events throughout Brooklyn. Our book distro is limited to how frequently any one cyclist can get on the streets and so far that’s just been our founder, K. With your help, we can get the bike out more often and to more neighborhoods across Brooklyn!
Interested or know someone who is? Here's what you need to know:
🚴 The book bike is NOT electric. It is manual with 7 gears.
🚴 The book bike is in fact a cargo bike, which means that when you cycle, the cargo vessel will be stocked with books.
🚴 The book bike is not a racing vehicle and it will take you longer to get around than with a standard bicycle. This is not an invitation to be challenged, but a statement of fact.
🚴 The book bike is actually a tricycle! The two-wheel cargo box is in the front, which means the steering is not the same as on a regular bicycle.
🚴 The bike is equipped with a number of safety additions including but not limited to handle bar mirrors, phone holder, front & rear lights, waterproof rear-rack storage pack with first aid kit & bike manual.
**ALL cyclists MUST wear a helmet while riding. If you volunteer to cycle, you are expected to provide your own helmet.**
Please DM on IG or email kay@thenonbinarian.gay if you are interested in biking Nonbinarian book outings. Serious inquiries only.
Please note: Until we can confirm cyclists for outings ASAP, we will not be able to commit to in-person September Book Bike events. Once we have secured cyclists and added events to our calendar, we will issue a newsletter blast to update everyone in addition to posting on social media. (We promise not to spam you! This is an exception to our monthly newsletter schedule, not the rule.)
Let's Go On a Reading Date
Picture this: a picnic blanket, soft pillows, your favorite snacks, cold drinks, and someone you love. You're comfortably lounging side by side, close enough to feel each other's warmth but not necessarily touching, each of you engrossed in a book. It's an early fall afternoon and the weather is perfect. Later, you might stop for coffee or tea or hot chocolate together and talk about what you're reading. Maybe you'll even wander into a bookstore together to pick up more books, laughing about the size of your to-read piles.
To me, this is a perfect date. I love engaging in parallel play with my partners and friends, whether we're reading individual books, making art or crafting, or playing video games. To an outsider, it may seem as if we aren't paying attention to each other at all, but it's actually the opposite. The movement of a hand, the nudge of a foot, the tilt of a head—all of these motions feel magnified, and each offers a unique opportunity for reciprocity. That quote will stick with me, says the hand. I love this time together, notes the foot. How are you? asks the head. We may be reading silently to ourselves, but we're as engaged with each other as when we're walking, talking, or embracing.
As the weather begins to cool and fall colors alight the trees, reading dates with friends and lovers become even more appealing. Outside in the afternoon or curled up on the couch together any time of day, these moments warm me from head to toe and linger in my heart for a long, long time after they end.
— Samantha Puc, Book Club Coordinator & Newsletter Editor
The Nonbinarian Book Club is partnered with Bluestockings Cooperative, a worker-owner-run activist center, bookstore, and community space that offers mutual aid, harm reduction support, resource research, and a temperature-regulated safe place. People of all genders, cultures, sexualities, and identities are welcome at Bluestockings Cooperative, which is located at 116 Suffolk St, New York, New York, on the Lower East Side.
You can purchase this month's Nonbinarian Book Club book at Bluestockings to support their mission and ours! Click here to order online and make sure to mention the book club in your order comments!
If you're an audiobook reader or you're interested in checking them out but don't want to support the evil empire, there's good news! Libro.fm is an international indie alternative that partners with independent bookstores everywhere to deliver audiobooks to readers for a monthly subscription fee or a la carte, depending on your preference.
The Nonbinarian Book Bike is honored to be a Libro.fm affiliate! If you'd like to support the Book Bike with your audiobook purchases, sign up here for a free account, then set The Nonbinarian Book Bike as the "bookstore" you'd like to support. Libro.fm will take it from there, donating a portion of each book you buy directly to the bike! Whether you've listened to 100 audiobooks or none, please consider joining Libro.fm today to help us sustain our initiative and grow your library!
The Nonbinarian Book Bike is partnered with the following independent bookstores! Books purchased from our wishlists will be donated directly to the bike for free distribution.
The Nonbinarian Book Bike is also proud to partner with the following organizations for our monthly summer event, Riis Read-In! Please check out their mission statements and support them however possible.
🌠 Reading 4 Black Lives Project
If you'd like to partner with us for an event or for long-term association, please reach out via e-mail! 
In addition to subscribing to our newsletter, following us on social media, and participating in events, you can also support the Book Bike in the following ways:
📚 Donate a book (or books) to the Book Bike!
📚 Donate funds to help upkeep costs like storage and bike maintenance! You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly one on Ko-Fi, or you can donate via Venmo.
📚 Buy a book from our wishlist!
📚 Buy a book through our Bookshop storefront!
📚 Support us with a Libro.fm subscription!
📚 Buy Nonbinarian merch!
Thank you to everyone who helped with our first-ever Book Drive! Whether you donated, volunteered, or spread the word, we are so grateful for your support in making our first major event such a success! Check out photos from the Book Drive below and stay tuned for details about the next one!
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Want to contribute to the Nonbinarian Newsletter?
If you have something you'd like to submit to the newsletter including events, mutual aid needs, book recs, or ideas you'd like to see us include, please email us at newsletter@thenonbinarian.gay.
Thank you for supporting the Nonbinarian Book Bike! Look for our next newsletter on the 1st of the month. In the meantime, follow us on social media for daily updates.