Read and Brew is an independent, self-funded Library/Bookstore/Café, which started just for our own passion for food and books. We offer the most affordable doorstep library in Pune/PCMC, for the whole family. We are also known for enhancing the book gifting experience with our beautiful customized bookmarks. Apart from the library and the café counterpart, we also sell books across India, the experience of which is being loved by readers all over. Not to hide, that we have also created dedicated Read and Brew fans across the nation.
Back in July 2021, we remember taking the decision to start Read and Brew, when the COVID scare was still hovering around. The challenges were obvious, when some random people would just enter our store and comment – ‘Nahi chalega!!’, ‘Aaj k zamane me books kaun padhta hai’. We personally never felt demotivated by any of these comments, because we were stubborn to bring the change, to bring back the love for libraries, to bring back affordability for the readers. We successfully hit the breakeven in just one year, and our library counterpart is now serving over 800 library customers across Pune.
Motives Behind Our Existence
Apart from serving regular bookish requirements of the readers, we had three prime motives to start Read and Brew:
- To reignite the passion for reading amongst senior section of the society, who are now restricted at their homes because of their old age.
- To bring back affordability with respect to books, making books accessible to all sections of the society.
- To inculcate reading habits in kids and teens alike, and Read and Brew offers the most affordable way to begin with.
Stocking the books in our library
The initial days when we started Read and Brew, we had no source of stocking the books. We initially relied on supplies from random wholesalers, some of which seemed authentic, while most of the others turned out to be selling pirated copies to us. As soon as we realized this, we started building our collaborations with the publishers. As of today, we are collaborated with more than 15 publishing houses, which includes Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Westland, Scholastic, Om Books, Pratham Books, Rupa/Aleph and Mehta Publications. Apart from the publishers, we have our accounts with local distributor.
We strictly do not support piracy in any form.
What makes us different?
While addressing the prime motives behind starting Read and Brew, there are certain things that make us different as a library or a bookstore.
- With our direct collaboration with the publishers, it immensely enhances our potential to serve our customers. We keep receiving updates on the new releases, the ordering process with the publishers are well organized, which also helps in fulfilling book requests for unavailable titles much quicker.
- We are the only library that imposes no return restrictions. You can keep a book as long as you wish to, while just ensuring the membership is alive.
- The only library that let’s you pause your membership whenever you wish take a break from reading. You can resume it any time you wish, and the lost days are carry forwarded by our automated system.
The Way Ahead
Read and Brew’s way ahead is quite obvious too. We look forward to collaboration with more publishers, art instructors, connect more with you all and host more events, while we also stay in trend with all new releases from publishers all over. Innovation is as important. We keep innovating the library strategy altogether. Let us all hope to witness a great bookish revolution in coming years and it could never happen without the presence and support from our lovely customers.
Keep supporting, keep loving and keep reading.