Queer bookstore Hive Mind Books builds community in Brooklyn
At the start of last summer, shortly after Kaitlyn Crockett moved to New York City, she opened her smartphone and searched for the nearest locations matching the keyword “queer.” Her query led her to Hive Mind Books, one of just a handful of LGBTQ-focused bookstores in New York City, which was advertising a writing night. … Read More
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At the start of last summer, shortly after Kaitlyn Crockett moved to New York City, she opened her smartphone and searched for the nearest locations matching the keyword “queer.” Her query led her to Hive Mind Books, one of just a handful of LGBTQ-focused bookstores in New York City, which was advertising a writing night. Five months on, and Crockett is a regular at the shop, where she has honed her craft while making new friends and relishing in queer literature.
“It is such a beautiful, not just community, but resource of literature and knowledge and stories that Hive Mind provides,” Crockett told Gay City News on a cold Monday evening in November, as she awaited the start of its biweekly queer playwriting circle.
Being there is “such a bomb to the soul,” Crockett added.
Hive Mind, Bushwick’s buzzing hub for queer books, community events, and coffee drinks, opened just over a year ago in the heart of an area that has become Brooklyn’s unofficial LGBTQ capital, and has been warmly received by the neighborhood ever since.
After a 20+ year career as a bookseller, Jules Wernersbach, Hive Mind’s co-founder, decided it was time to launch their own business, based off of a simple yet powerful premise: “What would it look like to have a bookstore that actually really really puts booksellers and the community first?”
It was 2021, on the coattails of the COVID pandemic. They started by selling books at pop up fairs and festivals, everywhere from Jersey City to Long Island, until the perfect corner location opened up in their own neighborhood in 2024.
“Even though New York City has a million bookstores, there wasn't a place to get a lot of the queer [and] trans literature that we have on the shelves right now,” Wernersbach said.
[caption id="attachment_60718" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
The exterior of Hive Mind Books.Dashiell Allen[/caption]
One of the few outposts, Bluestockings Cooperative, abruptly closed in October, while Gladys, a bookstore centering queer Black women, opened in Bed-Stuy this fall.
The brightly lit bookstore’s collection is stocked with queer classics like "Stone Butch Blues" and viral sensations like "Heated Rivalry," complemented by many more niche sub-sections, like nightlife, horror, drama, or poetry, all unapologetically queer. There’s also a robust selection of academic texts, filled with works that are not widely distributed elsewhere, from an interdisciplinary analysis of queerness in Korea, to a history of queer cowfolx and the growth of gay rodeo.
“There are people that are truly just looking for a cute little romantic escape, and we can provide that for you here, but we also have leading professors at NYU that are regulars,” said Rain, one of Hive Mind’s booksellers and baristas.
Hive Mind’s collection isn’t exclusively on the fruity side; there’s a general interest section tucked towards the back since, as Wernersbach said, it’s important to read widely and since, “I’m here to serve you the queer reader, if you want to read something that’s not gay, I’m like, ‘okay.’”
Wernersbach assures visitors that there is no pressure to purchase a book when sitting down to browse a novel or pen a short story. They also allow many community groups to hold events in their space for free, complementing their in-house programming, which include open-mic nights, author readings, book signings, and a monthly book club. Last month they read Justin Torres’ surreal novel, "Blackouts," while Valerie Solanas’ polemic "SCUM Manifesto" will close out the year.
[caption id="attachment_60719" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Jules Wernersbach, Hive Mind’s co-founder.Dashiell Allen[/caption]
Since the bookstore’s launch, Wernersbach said it has donated thousands of dollars to support local and international causes, like the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the Brooklyn-based Collective Focus Resource Hub. Those funds are taken directly out of the store’s profit.
“Especially now, when book bans are rampant in this country and everybody’s trying to take these books out of schools and libraries, it feels important to affirm in literature for ourselves and for our country that seems to not want it,” Wernersbach said. “Because plenty of people do want it.”
They opened their doors weeks before the 2024 election, and the background of near-constant attacks against queer and trans people from the federal government has only strengthened their sense that “we have to have a good, comfortable, happy, friendly, fun space when everything is so f—ing hard out there and people are so scared,” Wernserbach said.
Wernersbach, also an author whose debut novel, "Work to Do," will be published by the University of Iowa Press next spring, brought to Hive Mind their decades of experience not just selling books, but executing large-scale events with high-profile guests like Rosie O’Donnell, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Walters, and many more.
The name comes from their experience in the book world, which taught them that many different people’s combined work is needed to produce works of literature and keep bookstores running. The shop’s hexagonal tiles, forming brightly-colored flowers, were shockingly not custom-built, but a lucky hold-over from the homewares shop UR Fancy that last occupied its space.
While queer life often centers around alcohol and clubbing — especially in Bushwick — Hive Mind provides a welcome sober alternative, noted Rain, who said they have built strong friendships with people they met while working and hanging out at the bookstore.
[caption id="attachment_60720" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Rain is one of Hive Mind’s booksellers and baristas.Dashiell Allen[/caption]
“Queer people, for so long, we’ve been told to hide in the dark, that’s why nightlife and queer culture have for so long been hand-in-hand,” they said. By contrast, “this place is broad daylight. We’re not only telling you to come here and be as gay as you want to present yourself, but we’re also asking you not to hide yourself.”
“It feels good to work at a place that people genuinely care about,” Rain added.
As they waited for playwriting night to begin, Crockett reflected on what keeps them returning to the shop.
“In this day and age of hyper isolation, we're all like little amoebas looking to connect with each other,” they said. “A spot like Hive Mind is really necessary in this day and age.”
Hive Mind Books is located at 219 Irving Avenue in Brooklyn. It is open from Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 am to 7 pm, on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm and Monday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
The exterior of Hive Mind Books.Dashiell Allen[/caption]
One of the few outposts, Bluestockings Cooperative, abruptly closed in October, while Gladys, a bookstore centering queer Black women, opened in Bed-Stuy this fall.
The brightly lit bookstore’s collection is stocked with queer classics like "Stone Butch Blues" and viral sensations like "Heated Rivalry," complemented by many more niche sub-sections, like nightlife, horror, drama, or poetry, all unapologetically queer. There’s also a robust selection of academic texts, filled with works that are not widely distributed elsewhere, from an interdisciplinary analysis of queerness in Korea, to a history of queer cowfolx and the growth of gay rodeo.
“There are people that are truly just looking for a cute little romantic escape, and we can provide that for you here, but we also have leading professors at NYU that are regulars,” said Rain, one of Hive Mind’s booksellers and baristas.
Hive Mind’s collection isn’t exclusively on the fruity side; there’s a general interest section tucked towards the back since, as Wernersbach said, it’s important to read widely and since, “I’m here to serve you the queer reader, if you want to read something that’s not gay, I’m like, ‘okay.’”
Wernersbach assures visitors that there is no pressure to purchase a book when sitting down to browse a novel or pen a short story. They also allow many community groups to hold events in their space for free, complementing their in-house programming, which include open-mic nights, author readings, book signings, and a monthly book club. Last month they read Justin Torres’ surreal novel, "Blackouts," while Valerie Solanas’ polemic "SCUM Manifesto" will close out the year.
[caption id="attachment_60719" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Jules Wernersbach, Hive Mind’s co-founder.Dashiell Allen[/caption]
Since the bookstore’s launch, Wernersbach said it has donated thousands of dollars to support local and international causes, like the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the Brooklyn-based Collective Focus Resource Hub. Those funds are taken directly out of the store’s profit.
“Especially now, when book bans are rampant in this country and everybody’s trying to take these books out of schools and libraries, it feels important to affirm in literature for ourselves and for our country that seems to not want it,” Wernersbach said. “Because plenty of people do want it.”
They opened their doors weeks before the 2024 election, and the background of near-constant attacks against queer and trans people from the federal government has only strengthened their sense that “we have to have a good, comfortable, happy, friendly, fun space when everything is so f—ing hard out there and people are so scared,” Wernserbach said.
Wernersbach, also an author whose debut novel, "Work to Do," will be published by the University of Iowa Press next spring, brought to Hive Mind their decades of experience not just selling books, but executing large-scale events with high-profile guests like Rosie O’Donnell, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Walters, and many more.
The name comes from their experience in the book world, which taught them that many different people’s combined work is needed to produce works of literature and keep bookstores running. The shop’s hexagonal tiles, forming brightly-colored flowers, were shockingly not custom-built, but a lucky hold-over from the homewares shop UR Fancy that last occupied its space.
While queer life often centers around alcohol and clubbing — especially in Bushwick — Hive Mind provides a welcome sober alternative, noted Rain, who said they have built strong friendships with people they met while working and hanging out at the bookstore.
[caption id="attachment_60720" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Rain is one of Hive Mind’s booksellers and baristas.Dashiell Allen[/caption]
“Queer people, for so long, we’ve been told to hide in the dark, that’s why nightlife and queer culture have for so long been hand-in-hand,” they said. By contrast, “this place is broad daylight. We’re not only telling you to come here and be as gay as you want to present yourself, but we’re also asking you not to hide yourself.”
“It feels good to work at a place that people genuinely care about,” Rain added.
As they waited for playwriting night to begin, Crockett reflected on what keeps them returning to the shop.
“In this day and age of hyper isolation, we're all like little amoebas looking to connect with each other,” they said. “A spot like Hive Mind is really necessary in this day and age.”
Hive Mind Books is located at 219 Irving Avenue in Brooklyn. It is open from Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 am to 7 pm, on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm and Monday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. 
