On verge of closing, City Lights receives over $365,000 in donations in single day

A woman walks past City Lights Bookstore in Chinatown at the border with North Beach in San Francisco. The bookstore has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and is dire financial straits, its CEO says. A woman walks past City Lights Bookstore in Chinatown at the border with North Beach in San Francisco. The bookstore has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and is dire financial straits, its CEO says. Photo: Robert Alexander, Getty Images Photo: Robert Alexander, Getty Images Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close On verge of closing, City Lights receives over $365,000 in donations in single day 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

City Lights, the San Francisco bookstore that has been a beacon for writers, literary intellectuals and book lovers of all kinds for almost 70 years, is nearly broke and on the verge of closing permanently.

The store closed its doors March 16 because of the coronavirus pandemic and fears that it may not be able to reopen.

Elaine Katzenberger, publisher and CEO of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, explained in a message posted for a GoFundMe campaign that the store is unable even to process online orders because it wants its booksellers to stay safe at home.

“With no way to generate income, our cash reserves are quickly dwindling, with bills coming due and with a primary commitment to our staff, who we sent home with full pay and healthcare, and who we hope to keep as healthy and financially secure as possible,” Katzenberger wrote.

People were responding to the appeal. The fund drive had surpassed its $300,000 goal. As of Friday evening, more than $365,000 had been donated.

City Lights was founded in 1953 by Peter D. Martin and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in a small storefront of the Artigues Building at 261 Columbus Ave. by the border of Chinatown and North Beach. It became famous after the 1956 obscenity trial of Ferlinghetti for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s controversial “Howl and Other Poems.” Over the years it has served as a meeting place for poets, authors, artists and counterculture figures.

City Lights Books is one of America's great treasures. They need some help right now. https://t.co/PwLXBaQY6O — Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) April 10, 2020

In 2001, the city Board of Supervisors made the bookstore an official city landmark.

Here’s how the actor Peter Coyote described City Lights in a YouTube video:

“Its heart’s still in the right place, championing the right things, standing up for the underdog, standing up for big heartedness, for generosity, for culture, for the belief in excellence, for craftsmanship. And it’s just there, it could make me weep.”

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate