Our Story

Our mission

Liberation is Lit is a bookseller that aims to spark collective action for liberation and community building among readers and book lovers by promoting stories from intersectional experiences.

Our Vision

We envision a world of liberation for all where everyone's stories matter.

Why Now?

There is a shift happening in the world of readers. Politicians, libraries, school districts, and parent groups are banning books and stripping rights in order to render marginalized communities powerless. Readers deserve to see themselves in the books that they read, and when we strip that right away, it can be an isolating experience. Banning books is turning the time back on progress. These groups know that reading is political, but so do Radical Readers. The stories we read have the power to band us together to find liberation for us all. We are on a mission to share the stories people aren't talking about and how to take those stories to push us into action and build community among us.

Origin Story

Hi, my name is Tayler, and I am a Radical Reader. I started Liberation is Lit because I didn't want just to read books. I joined the #bookstagram community looking for others who were passionate about reading and liberation. What I found was this internal conflict between the big-time Bookstagrammers wanting to keep the conversation about books and passionate Bookstagrammers having smaller platforms because they made reading political.
Reading has always been such a big part of my life. I remember my mom would get me a bunch of books on cassette tapes, so I could follow along reading when she was driving or cooking. To this day, I love giving unsolicited book recommendations, and you can always count on me to have a lot of ~feelings~ about the books I read.
Back in 2019, I took a leap of faith and started a blog on the books I was reading. I wrote a lot about how different books made me feel about the world around me and how I thought they moved us toward liberation. I found community among those bookstagrammers who made books political, and I decided it was time to make reading more than just entertainment.
There are so many stories out there that light a fire in us to fight for liberation and build community with each other. I want to equip Radical Readers with the tools to become activists in their own right. Liberation is Lit is not just a bookseller, it’s a liberation movement led by the stories we read and the community we build.

We serve by providing ...

A space where people can build community through books and stories while seeking liberation. Through this space, readers can learn more about themselves and their identities, other communities, and how to find liberation.