ANN ARBOR, MI - It takes up only 1,200 square feet, but Common Language Bookstore holds a big place in the hearts of Ann Arbor's LGBTQ community.

Shelves in the bookstore on Braun Court in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown neighborhood are filled with gay and lesbian fiction, books on women's studies and LGBT classics. Duke, a 15-year-old border collie, greets customers and naps beside the books.

Keith Orr and Martin Contreras, who have been together for 32 years and owned Common Language since 2003, announced Saturday, Nov. 3, the store will close at the end of the year due to persistently low sales.

Common Language is one of about a dozen independent LGBTQ bookstores left in the country. Its closure has broader ramifications for the future of Braun Court, which has been considered a safe haven for the LGBTQ community in Ann Arbor for decades.

Orr and Contreras own the three houses-turned-commercial space that house Common Language Bookstore, autBar and the Jim Toy Community Center.

As they close the bookstore and prepare for retirement, the couple is looking to sell the buildings - which leaves the future of the gay bar and community center up in the air.

"We created a little gay center here. ... There's definitely a sense that (Kerrytown) is the LGBT neighborhood of downtown Ann Arbor," Orr said. "I don't know how that's going to change over the years, but change happens."

'Braun Court feels like home'

Strands of twinkling lights, rainbow flags and outdoor seating shaded by two trees fill the center of Braun Court, lined on each side by houses converted into businesses.

"That whole area is a great little oasis," said author David Pratt, who moved to Ann Arbor in 2015 and has done events at Common Language. "Ann Arbor is very liberal, but I really feel like I can breath when I'm there."

Contreras and his mother opened a Mexican restaurant at 315 Braun Court in 1986, and in 1995, he turned it into autBar, which remains a popular gay bar and restaurant that also hosts community events.

In 1997, the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project - later renamed the Jim Toy Community Center - moved two doors down from autBar, and Common Language Bookstore eventually moved in between the two businesses.

Travis Radina, president of the board of directors for the Jim Toy Community Center, said the center is evaluating its options as the building is put up for sale.

"For so many of us, Braun Court feels like home," Radina said. "For others, it may feel like the only place where they can truly be themselves."

Common Language, which has operated in Ann Arbor since 1991, was previously located on Fourth Avenue beside the former Aunt Agatha's mystery bookstore that closed in August.

Gay literature was helpful to Orr - who has lived in Ann Arbor since the mid-70s - when he was coming out in the '80s. So when he heard Common Language's previous owners were looking to sell, he wanted to make sure gay literature remained available in Ann Arbor.

"We decided we just couldn't see it close. It was too important to the community," Orr said.

He and Contreras bought the store in 2003 and soon moved to its current location at 317 Braun Court, after they purchased the building. It's been a destination for tourists, Orr said, because LGBTQ bookstores are so few and far between.

For Autumn Mahoney, 41, a Ferndale resident, Common Language was an anchor in her coming out journey.

When she was in her early 30s, she worked up the courage to visit Common Language, where she felt welcomed and started reading books that helped her better understand the LGBTQ community. Within a few years, Mahoney had come out as bisexual and transgender.

"Through all the big life changes of living authentically, transitioning, finding my voice and making ever-deeper connections and friendships, that little rainbow-colored courtyard nestled in the heart of Ann Arbor has remained an anchor point," said Mahoney, who frequented Common Language every couple of months. "My life is immeasurably better and more full now on the other side of that journey."

Common Language has been candid with customers about its dwindling sales in recent years. autBar is doing well enough that Orr and Contreras were able to keep the bookstore open past the point where it made financial sense.

But time is up.

"For us there's sort of a sense of resignation about it right now. ... This has been an important place for a lot of people," Orr said. "The hardest part about the decision is knowing it will affect people in different ways. For a lot of folks, this was their first safe space."

In April, a call to support the locally-owned LGBTQ bookstore made the rounds on social media, and Common Language was inundated with hundreds of online orders.

In four days, they received 1,200 online orders, Orr said - a drastic increase from the two or three online sales they previously made each month.

Now, Common Language is processing two or three online sales a week, Orr said, but the majority of the store's sales have always been in store. Even the boost in sales this spring wasn't enough to keep the bookstore going long-term.

"The internet's the juggernaut here," Orr said. "People buy their books online."

'We're losing a piece of community'

Patti Smith remembers the launch for her book "Images of America: Downtown Ann Arbor" at Common Language as one of the best nights of her life.

"(Orr) not only gave me shelf space and embraced the book, but he did the book launch," said Smith, a special education teacher who has published fiction and historical books. "It was just an amazing feeling to be supported like that in the community."

Independent bookstores provide crucial support for local authors and authors early in their careers.

That was the case for Pratt, who did a reading for his first book, "Bob the Book," at Common Language in 2010. He's done other readings there over the years and made appearances at LGBTQ bookstores around the country.

"Bookstores were one of the first gay community centers, that was a function they served," Pratt said. "There's something you get from browsing at a store like Common Language that you don't get from those Amazon suggestions."

Smith agreed that having fewer independent bookstores limits opportunities for people to access a diverse selection of books.

"We're losing voices," she said. "We're losing safe spaces for people. We're losing a piece of community that brought people together."