For Keeps Books opened in November 2018 on historic Auburn Avenue, in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn district, and it deals in something most bookstores do not carry: rare, out-of-print and classic Black books. Founder Rosa Duffy, an Atlanta native and New School graduate, began collecting Black literature at 18, inspired by her father's collection of the 1960s periodical SoulBook. The stock runs to first editions, periodicals and ephemera, with authors such as Alice Walker, Ralph Ellison and Octavia Butler on the shelves.
Some of the rarest titles are kept for in-store reading rather than sale, and there is a dedicated reading room where visitors can sit with them. Duffy chose Sweet Auburn deliberately, as a way of anchoring a historically Black neighborhood against gentrification, and the store hosts community events and readings alongside its retail hours.
Those hours are limited and visits are often by appointment, so it is worth checking ahead before making the trip. Between the reading room, the events and the shelves themselves, For Keeps works as much like an archive as a store. Plan a visit or browse the collection online.
For Keeps Books