Community Book Center
Book store in New Orleans, LA
- Address
- 2523 Bayou Rd, New Orleans, LA, 70119
- Phone
- +15049487323
- Website
- cbcreads.com
About Community Book Center
Community Book Center is a New Orleans institution on Bayou Road, opened by Vera "Mama Vera" Warren-Williams, who began selling books from her car in 1988 after noticing how few schools carried Black authors. The store stocks adult and children's literature centered on African American and African heritage, alongside handmade jewelry, local art, shea butter, and soaps. A building-side mural depicting Ujamaa, the Kwanzaa principle of cooperative economics, marks the entrance.
Vera Warren-Williams started bookselling at 24 while substitute teaching, driving between New Orleans schools to sell titles by Black authors that classrooms didn't carry. She opened her first storefront in Treme in 1988, and in 2003 bought the current building at 2523 Bayou Road, one of the city's oldest streets and a longtime hub for Black-owned business. Four decades later, the shop she built from her car remains a gathering place for readers and artists.
Services
- New & used books
- Handmade jewelry & local art
- Shea butter & handmade soaps
- Author talks & discussion groups
- Online orders via Bookshop.org
Photos
