WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rohi's Readery at The Square is a place many people have come looking for support and books on topics that they can no longer find in schools.
The store is filled with books about inclusion and diversity representing historically marginalized communities.
"I have a grandson who is biracial and it's wonderful, this kind of a place. To bring him would be awesome," Brenda Zimmerman, a grandmother of interracial grandchildren, said.
This as educators throughout Florida are asked to remove books from their classrooms that discuss topics such as sexuality, gender identity and race.
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"I'm a retired elementary school librarian from the time when we did choose the book that we felt the library needed," Ellen Heath said. "Obviously, we read reviews, we bought the best quality, but we were free to choose books that would reach a diverse community, and I'm sick that that has changed."
The bookstore is a passion project by Pranoo Kumar as a tribute to her grandmother, who was an education activist who fought for children's rights.
"We want to use these books as tools of empowerment, but instead people are seeing them as a threat, which is not the case," Kumar said. "It's even sad that they're being called banned books, because their intention of these authors and illustrators is to create liberation. It's to create opportunities for open engagement and conversation and learning of stories of others."
Rohi's Readery has been around for about a year and a half, and Kumar said she has faced some negativity.
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"We have experienced pushbacks and challenges, whether it's through emails or a death threat, whether it is through challenges even outside of the Readery,' said Kumar.
But she said her motivation to stay open is to honor her grandmother and for the community and children who need the books the most.
"My biggest thing about books is that every child that comes in here really sees that they feel a sense of belonging and empowerment in every little act of reading," Kumar said.
