Audiobook service Libro.fm [4] has stepped up to raise more than $73,000 [5] for local bookstores as part of its #ShopBookstoresNow campaign; the service is also hiring 10 booksellers to temporarily work with the company.

Director of Marketing Stephanie Ballien told Bookselling This Week that Libro.fm’s #ShopBookstoresNow campaign, launched on March 15, has funneled 100 percent of sales to local bookstores, with that $73,000 raised in just over two weeks. 

Ballien said that bookstores and booksellers are the core of Libro.fm’s business. “Without them,” she noted, “we cannot survive.” Back in March, she added, the landscape was shifting so quickly — once the company saw what was happening to bookstores with closures and layoffs, it knew it needed to help.

“Last week, we launched part two of the campaign, which gives 100 percent of the sale from select audiobooks [6] to local bookstores through April 10,” said Ballien. “We’ll also be introducing another charitable component this month (hint: socks!) that will support Binc.” 

To support the company’s growth, Libro.fm is also hiring 10 booksellers [7] to work from April 13 to May 15. “The response has been overwhelming,” Ballien said, “and we’re thrilled to temporarily expand our team with booksellers across the country.” 

Bookstores and booksellers, Ballien noted, are “essential to our communities. They provide human connection and serendipitous experiences that can never be replaced with computer-generated algorithms.”

This is the time, she added, for book lovers to reevaluate where their money is going, and consider the impact of who and what they’re supporting. Said Ballien, “If we all choose to buy our books and audiobooks through our local bookstores instead of Amazon, the bookselling community will thrive once again.”