When the COVID-19 pandemic forced shutdowns all over the world, Columbia University Press wanted to show its support for the literary community. With independent bookstores and publishers, already constantly challenged by corporate behemoths, facing an uncertain future, our director Jennifer Crewe, offered to reimburse every staff member up to $100 spent at independent bookstores. Hungry for books to help get through the quarantine, the voracious readers of CUP took her up on the offer. We bought books from all over the country! In the gallery below you’ll find purchases from New York stores such as Astoria Bookshop in Queens, Café con Libros in Brooklyn, and Book Culture here in the Manhattan and Bookends & Beginnings in Illinois, Books & Books in Coral Gables Florida, and  East Bay Booksellers in Oakland, CA. From best-selling fiction to gender studies, from art to children’s books, these eclectic purchases showcase the omnivorous taste of the university press workforce. On Independent Bookstore Day, we hope our readers will also be inspired to pick out a book or two for their own shelves, to keep independent bookstores thriving.