About Page and Portal Books
Our Mission & Dedication to Intellectual Freedom
We are Page and Portal Books, a new local business passionately dedicated to championing intellectual freedom right here in Rochester. We believe every reader deserves access to the stories that matter.
Our core mission is to provide affordable, accessible pleasure reading for every person, while actively ensuring that frequently challenged and banned books remain readily available.
Our Core Principles
We are guided by these core principles in everything we do:
- Reading is Foundational: We believe reading is a critical tool for understanding complex issues, not a subject for limitation or censorship.
- Trust the Reader: We believe in trusting individuals to make their own reading decisions.
- Opposing External Censorship: We stand firmly against the idea that one parent should make reading decisions for other parents' children.
Protecting Knowledge
We recognize that the current rise in book bans puts our centers of knowledge and community learning in jeopardy. We are ready to lend our platform and entrepreneurial spirit to protect the right of everyone to access a variety of books and defend intellectual freedom.
Our Offerings and Sourcing
We are committed to making books accessible and affordable:
- Affordable Books: We thoughtfully source our diverse collection from gently used inventories, overstock, and direct publisher channels, guaranteeing prices well below retail on every title.
- Page and Scent Kits: We offer our books for individual purchase, or as one of our Page and Scent Kits, which include a book, a specially designed handcrafted candle, and extra goodies for an enhanced reading experience.
What's Missing from Your Shelves?
We want to serve our community directly. Tell us: What kinds of books are missing from your shelves right now?
Follow us on social media! @pageandportalbooks