[cafard]

The group Turning the Page operates pop-up Carpe Librum stores in space provided by the owners of commercial properties in Washington, DC. In some cases, a building is scheduled for demolition and replacement--the store at 17th between K and L NW had an unusually long run.

Periodically the commercial real estate market sags, and it is some years before it picks up again. An owner can be caught between the end of the leases and the rebuilding. In these cases, a charity bookshop is probably not a bad tenant. It is unlikely to disturb neighboring properties with noise or litter. It will probably not start a fire, as squatters have inadvertently done in a vacant block downtown.

And I really don't think that in a large city this is unlikely to distort the market. I haven't counted the vacant storefronts within five blocks either way of the current Carpe Librum at 14th and I NW, but there are quite a few.