A message from Carl, owner of Cal's books:

"To all our many customers and book lovers that over the last half-century made Cal's what it is. The disaster has happened and the official assessment is in - I myself cannot possibly put humpty-dumpty back together again. BUT, I have been contacted by a group of local bibliophiles who wish to attempt just that. These 5 people are young,

smart, and enthusiastic, and for those reasons alone may be able to not only bring back Cal's, But actually improve it by finally giving it the labor force that it never had before.

At this point you are probably wondering, yeah great, but will it really be Cal's? And the

answer is, Yes, because they are also interested in keeping me on as a consultant. This means that I will train them in the art of used bookselling with all that that entails, hopefully resulting in a new incarnation of the same bookstore we have all enjoyed for the past 51 years. I have met with the group three times so far, and am gaining a clearer picture every time I meet with them. Although young, smart, and enthusiastic is all very good, it will not work well without being balanced by some levelheaded realism which this group has demonstrated to me that they also possess. Right now, thanks to this group, I am more hopeful and optimistic than I have been since that fateful solstice afternoon when the floodwaters started pouring under the front door. It is early days yet, but I promise you that if we can put this together I myself will do everything within reason to make it work!

Carl at Cal's Books."

For decades, Cal’s Books has been more than a bookstore. It has been a place of wandering, discovery, conversation, and connection. A true Shasta County gem.

During Christmas week, severe flooding in Redding caused devastating damage to the store. Water rose knee-high inside, destroying tens of thousands of books. Selling the remaining inventory to large vendors would mean losing an irreplaceable community space. Keeping this bookstore local, accessible, and OPEN remains our priority!

Cal’s Books Cooperative is the first worker cooperative in Shasta County, and for the past few months we have been working diligently to preserve and reopen Cal’s Books. Our immediate focus was to remove destroyed materials and protect what could be saved. With community support, we relocated two storage units worth of books into a dry space and are in the beginning processes of evaluating and restoring the remaining inventory. The encouragement and support we’ve received has been extraordinary, and we are deeply grateful.

This fund was created to help us:

1. Purchase the remaining books, records, and merchandise

2. Cover essential costs related to moving, storage, and preservation

3. Secure and prepare a new location

4. Keep this institution in community hands

We have come a long way and are now over halfway to our current goal of $24,000. Reaching this goal will allow us to move forward with reopening Cal’s in the coming months!!

Every contribution, no matter the size, moves this effort forward. If you’re unable to donate but want to support the work, we welcome you to reach out!

Whether you’ve spent hours browsing the shelves, discovered a book that you loved, or simply believe places like this matter:

Thank you for helping keep Cal’s Books alive.