This local bookstore responded to President Trump’s immigration order with powerful window displays
President Donald Trump temporarily banned the citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. on Friday, and Brookline Booksmith answered with several powerful window displays on Monday morning.
The displays in three of the store’s windows prominently feature books by authors from all seven of the countries named in President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.
“Two staff members came up with the idea and ran it by me, and I said, ‘Perfect,'” said Dana Brigham, the store’s manager and co-owner. “The bookstore has been here 56 years, and from day one, it’s been all about different views, different opinions, different ways of looking at things.”
Brookline Booksmith employees Paul Theriault and Shuchi Saraswat organized the displays and, along with Brigham, chose the 20 books that are featured. Those books include The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani of Iran, In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar of Libya, and Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Somalia.
Books written by authors from the seven countries named in President Trump’s executive order on immigration are on display at Brookline Booksmith.
The store posted an image of the display on its Facebook page Monday, along with a complete list of the staff-recommended books.
Brigham said the response to the display has been positive both in the store and on social media. She said the store has ordered extra copies of the books, which customers are beginning to purchase, and that the store will keep the displays up for several weeks, will construct a similar display inside the store, and may explore future programming around the books, such as discussions.
“There’s a schism in the country, it would seem,” Brigham said. “Customers are interested in learning different ways of looking at things. We are interested in providing that for them.”
