Want to support a Black-owned library with the largest poetry collection on the West Coast?
(Hiram Sims and Charisse Sims, co-founders of the Sims Library of Poetry)
The Sims Library of Poetry is looking for monthly donations between $4.44 to $44.44 a month to help pay part-time staff and help them become full-time staff and pay basic expenses. The library opened in July 2020 and currently generates $3500 a month through donations, but the goal is to generate $5500 a month.
The Sims Library began literally in a suitcase when founder Hiram Sims used to bring poetry books to his students for class! Eventually, one day, a student said to him: "hey, it's the Sims Library of Poetry!" and the dream was born. Through hard work and effort, and running some other great community programs, like the Community Literature Intitative and the World Stage Press, Hiram's dream could come true when for his birthday a bunch of students helped him build his library in his garage. And it was an excellent library in the garage, but his landlady wasn't too happy with it, so the opportunity presented itself for both him and his wife to open up the library.
(CLI as mentioned above hosts poetry/publishing classes for writers of colors and underserved communities that aims to have you finish an entire poetry collection that is ready to be published either through a small press, big press, or self-publish. Editing, layout design, and book cover are included in the cost! )
The Sims Library of Poetry offers rich opportunities for writers of all backgrounds to share their voices. This library is the first library of poetry of its kind on the West Coast, with over 6,000 books of poetry in its catalog, some of which you can’t find anywhere else. And to be honest, about 90% of these books were all donated by poets, including myself!
They also have ebooks that you can borrow too!
(LA Times, Poets & Writers, KCET Articles)
https://www.patreon.com/SimsLibraryofPoetry
Bi-weekly Poetry Book Recommendation, Instagram Shoutout
$11.44 - Limerick 44 Club:
Previous tier + Weekly Writing Prompts, Exclusive Curated Playlists, Donor Plaque, Space Rental & Merch Discount: 5%
Previous tiers + Bi-Monthly Printed Library Newsletter, Free Access to Library Events, Exclusive Recordings of Events & Readings, Unlimited Events, Space Rental & Merch Discount: 10%
(HONESTLY, THIS TIER IS AWESOME BECAUSE THEY DO WEEKLY EVENTS ON WEDS!!! Plus, you get to see open mics, book launches, all sorts of things!!!!!)
Previous tiers + Personalized Bookmark & Book, 44 Poetry Class, Space Rental & Merch Discount: 15%
(The 44 Poetry Class is a once a month virtual poetry class for level one poetry. Average poetry workshops on their own about $25, but with this tier, you get a class + all the recordings form the weekly events
If you want to do a one-time donation, that would also be greatly, greatly, greatly appreciated!!
Look, at the end of the day, this library means a lot to me. I spend a lot of time here coming to book releases, writing here, doing my poetry classes here, and so much more. It is truly one of a kind.
Hours: Monday through Friday 9:30am-2:30pm; Saturday’s 1-6pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90043
Email: [email protected]
Donate if you can, REBLOG IF YOU'RE ABLE! :D