Local bookstore facing displacement calls for donations, community support

On February 29, Hidden Gems Literary Emporium, a local bookstore focused on philanthropy and access to literacy, will lose its brick-and-mortar location on Morris Street in New Brunswick.

The shop is owned by Kaila Boulware Sykes, a Rutgers alum and current graduate student in the School of Public Health, and her husband, Raymond Cheley Sykes, also a Rutgers alum. In an interview with The Daily Targum, Boulware Sykes said the shop operates out of Above Art Studios, an organization that her family is closely connected to.

Due to rising rent costs in New Brunswick, the studio has decided to relocate. The studio's move serves as a catalyst for Hidden Gems to look for a new, longer-lasting location, she said.

"That's why we are advocating for this fundraiser to purchase our own location — so that Hidden Gems has permanent roots without the threat of it being taken away, so that we can continue our work but, more importantly, expand it," Boulware Sykes said.

She said the store currently has more than 10,000 books in storage from various individual and corporate donors, demonstrating the importance people place on the shop. Boulware Sykes said she aspires for Hidden Gems to eventually become a location for people to engage with books and arts, be it through the store's events or reading its material.

Despite the upcoming deadline, Boulware Sykes said Hidden Gems still intends to host events and discussions in the coming month. These programs can and have been leveraged into advocating for the store and collecting resources to reallocate to local communities, she said.

Boulware Sykes said that most recently, her family visited a conference in Ohio and returned with a van full of books that they then donated to students in New Brunswick and Plainfield.

"We're still doing the work," Boulware Sykes said. "Our schedule is packed, and we're just hoping that we find a new home sooner than later."

Hidden Gems has been supporting the community since its creation by providing thousands of books free of cost to students at various levels of education and other members of the community, she said. The bookstore has also facilitated a food contribution initiative through which it has donated more than four million pounds of food.

"It seems like during our time in New Brunswick, we've served as kind of like a bridge where the two communities, who kind of tend to be separated, come together in one place under the guise of reading and education," Boulware Sykes said.

Hidden Gems Literary Emporium became the first bookstore of its kind owned by a family of color in 2021, as previously reported by the Targum. 

Boulware Sykes said the company came to be after she and her family were met with discrimination from both patrons and leadership at an Ocean County bookstore. She and her husband, both of whom enjoy reading, visited the location with the intent of introducing their baby son to literature.

Instead, the family left the situation quickly and began praying for the chance to create what became Hidden Gems Literary Emporium five years later, she said.

"Sometimes, when you're going through difficult situations, you can't really see how or why certain things happen to you, but I believe that eventually it all comes full circle," she said. "Our grand opening was just a great representation of our mission to bring people of all cultures, backgrounds and ages together … It really was just one of the best days Hidden Gems has had."

Boulware Sykes said individuals looking to support Hidden Gems in its pursuit of finding a new, lasting location can contribute financially via the shop's GoFundMe or other digital payment platforms.

Boulware Sykes said spreading information about the shop, its ongoing difficulties and the fundraiser also helps. She encouraged anyone interested in doing so to reach out to her for promotional material.

Additionally, Boulware Sykes said she encourages people to consider the value of literacy through the lens of her graduate background in public health. She said that while she has seen how higher education can dissuade students from reading, developing literacy can affect wellbeing through a myriad of ways, such as professional opportunities, mental health and access to physical healthcare.

"I know we're all very, very busy," she said. "But if we can just spend 15 minutes a day reading something that makes us happy or that feeds our mind or our spirit, I think that we'll have a much better society."