PASADENA, Calif. — Usually, Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, California, is filled with books. The walls are lined with titles on dark brown shelves, and customers can buy candles and other small goods, too. But for the past two weeks, the Black-owned bookshop has been packed wall-to-wall with supplies like bottles of water, hygiene products, clothes and food that are given away for free to locals impacted by the ongoing wildfire in the area.
“The focus has always been serving the community and that means different things at different times. Right now it means something other than books,” Kiki Williams, manager of the bookstore, said.
Overall, the multiple fires in Souther California have killed at least 27 people and dozens more may be missing. The Eaton Fire, which has ravaged parts of Pasadena and Altadena, was 65% contained as of Friday morning.
Nikki High, the owner of the bookstore, returned to the shop last week and was shocked to learn that the building still had power. High, who has been unable to return to her Pasadena home, immediately opened the store to displaced locals who needed to charge their phones, use their laptops and connect with their loved ones. Williams recalled the moment the simple bookstore grew into more.
“Somehow, in the midst of all that, people just started to bring stuff,” Williams said. “And then within a few hours, I looked at Nikki and I said, ‘Nikki, we have an operation happening.’”
Overnight, the bookshop was transformed into a resource center, a mutual aid hub where locals could use the store’s power and access everything from blankets and baby supplies to hot food and water. With the help of volunteers, employees have been able to distribute supplies to the elderly, disabled or otherwise vulnerable people. For the last week, the store’s Instagram account has been filled with updates and invitations for locals to come and access anything they may need.
Kiki Williams, manager of Octavia’s Bookshelf speaks to a person, in Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday; A shelf of donations available to the public.
“This community is one with a lot of elders, it’s one with folks with disabilities,” Williams said. “Also, people are in shock, they’re spread out. They’re far away, so we want people to have access to these items even if they’re not able to come get them themselves. So we have been able to take clothing and food and items to folks who are farther away, who don’t have cars at the moment but who need them.”
Bookshelves have been replaced with food and toiletries, bins with packs of toothbrushes and other items were piled high in the 621-square-foot North Hill Avenue space. People have sent in donations almost constantly, with some driving from as far as San Diego to join in the efforts, according to Alta, a California-focused online news site.
The significance of the store transforming into a resource hub isn’t lost on its owner and staff. The shop is named after the late Octavia E. Butler, the legendary science fiction writer who predicted a Los Angeles consumed by fires and wracked by climate change and poverty in her books “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents.” The first book, published in 1993, includes an eerie line from a young girl struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. On Feb. 1, 2025, the character writes, “We had a fire today.”
The beloved author grew up in Pasadena, near Altadena, a haven for Black and Latino residents, and spent much of her life in Southern California. High first read Butler’s work as a teenager, she told The Guardian in 2023, and decided to open the store to champion the work of writers of color and share Butler’s legacy. High quickly established the store as a community space and sanctuary for writing by Black, indigenous and other authors of color. Her current efforts are an extension of that work.
“This is completely free of charge,” Williams said of the recent operation. “You just come. We’re not IDing anybody, so it really is a bit of a trust system. We have bags outside that folks can grab. We have diapers and wipes, baby food, we have hair care. Hair care specific to curly hair, Black hair. We’re working on getting air filters too that people can just take.”
The store is relying on donations of all kinds to keep the operation going, and the community has rallied to provide supplies and even monetary support that, Williams said, is going to benefit the store in the long run. Still, the current operation is costly especially since all book sales have been paused. But, Williams said, they couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com