Kerrie Joyce 
If you’re on #BookTok, you know that book culture has been making a major comeback over the past few years, which is probably a good thing for our collective attention spans. Still, online ordering and digital reading options have had a pretty big impact on indie bookstores, which often struggle to compete against their online counterparts. Hoboken’s Little City Books, however, seems to be thriving. Nestled on the corner of 1st and Bloomfield Street, the shop recently celebrated its 10th year in town — and we caught up with founders Kate Jacobs and Donna Garban to see what’s new, what’s gone, and the key to their staying power in an embattled industry. Read on for more on Little City Books in Hoboken and the two women behind it.
How it Began
The bookstore opened in May 2015. The idea for the store was born from conversations between Hoboken moms Donna Garban and Kate Jacobs while watching their kids at the park, wondering why a city like Hoboken lacked such a fundamental space. The two were determined to create a third space for children and adults alike to gather, learn, and be entertained. Before they became booksellers, Kate worked as a touring musician and Donna worked on Wall Street in Municipal Finance.
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What Has Evolved?
The booksellers and self-described impresario/salonistas credit the emergence of BookTok for the influx of younger readers into the store, where the initial customer base was primarily middle-aged women. “The audience has increasingly skewed younger, which BookTok helped with,” they said. The trendsetting social media community made its presence known with flocks of customers requesting books like The Song of Achilles and Circe.
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns were fatal for many brick-and-mortar businesses in the U.S., but not for Little City Books. Donna and Kate said there was a period, after sending home all of the staff for safety, where the two of them worked 10+ hour days — sometimes even making hand deliveries themselves.
At the same time, the online store took off, with online orders and gift certificates keeping the business afloat. Once the shop was able to reopen, the community showed up for the store in record-high numbers, affirming their place in the neighborhood. “If a town wants a bookstore, they can have a bookstore, but they have to really support it, so we have been really lucky that the town has always supported us from day 1 and especially during COVID,” Donna told The Hoboken Girl.
The owners repeatedly praise their landlady, who opened the wall between the two stores for them to build the children’s annex one year after initially opening. The store added the Children’s Annex in response to increasing demand for children’s books, with more and more families committing to staying in town. “Every good bookstore reflects the town, adding the Children’s Annex was us reacting to the town,” Donna said of the decision to expand.
The team has experimented with expanding its retail space into uptown Hoboken, where much of its customer base resides, with a storefront within bwè’s North End cafe. The uptown annex opened in January 2020 but closed in February 2022. The team has also hosted a holiday pop-up shop inside Choc O Pain’s Hudson Street location.
Ultimately, Donna and Kate learned that a large, personalized space is important to bookselling: while it might be feasible to stick a cafe inside of a bookstore, it tends to be less successful the other way around. The experience also highlighted the presence of the flagship store in the fabric of the community, which is where the team continues to concentrate its energy despite frequent offers to expand.
Part of the Hoboken Community
Frequently in HG’s conversation with Little City, the wants and needs of the community came first and foremost. Little City hosts several opportunities for community members to gather around a shared love of literature, arts, and culture. Some of these opportunities include book clubs, Little City Laughing, author signings, live music performances, and more.
As a mainstay Hoboken small business for now over a decade, we asked other local business owners to comment on what Little City has meant to them over the last decade. Here’s what they had to say:
Dale, of bwè kafe:
“Being such a fixture in our town, it’s hard to imagine a time before Little City Books. Donna and Kate have truly made a Hoboken treasure and staple. They’ve created a wonderland for any age to come in and fall in love with reading.”
Carmen Rusu, of Symposia Community Bookstore:
“Kate and Donna are truly amazing. Before they dreamed up Little City Books, Symposia was the only bookstore in Hoboken. When they reached out to us to share their plans for opening a new bookstore, they didn’t come with competition in mind—they came with a spirit of collaboration and community. They told us right from the start: ‘We want to work together, not against each other.’ And that’s exactly what has happened. Little City focuses on new books, and we at Symposia specialize in pre-loved ones. It’s like we’ve become sister bookstores—each with our own personality, but sharing the same love for stories, learning, and our Hoboken neighbors. There’s a lot of beautiful cross-pollination between us. When someone comes into Symposia looking for a book we don’t have, we send them to Little City. And when someone at Little City wants to donate books, they’re sent our way—because Symposia exists almost entirely thanks to donated books.”
Abbe Rivers, of Empire Coffee + Tea Co.:
“Having known Kate & Donna from around town for years, being local moms & lovely creative humans together, I was thrilled when Little City came to fruition! It is such a pleasure to stroll up Bloomfield Street (Empire Coffee & Tea is 3 short blocks away) to a warm, welcoming, knowledgeable, jam-packed local bookstore! I pop in for it all! Everyday reading, travel, gifts & a smile! Congrats on the big 10 ladies!”
Jordan Hernandez, of Completely Booked:
“I started going there consistently in 2020, and it’s just such a warm place. All the employees are so welcoming, they’re so knowledgeable. Over the last maybe three years or so, I have gotten to know Donna and Kate just from being in the book world, I’ve gotten closer with them and joined them on The Today Show, I’ve been to events of theirs. I’ve become friends with the employees as well, particularly Danette and Kelli. They’re just all such lovely people and seeing them in the community and the work they do for the community. It’s just a nice resource to have in the community.”
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As far as recommendations go, Kate and Donna listed some of their recent reads across various genres — including Atavists by Lydia Millet, Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen, and Songs for Other People’s Weddings by local author David Levithan. Donna described the last book saying, “It’s typical Levithan. It’s so sweet, and he wrote a chapter and his friend wrote a song and they’re actually going to launch it here in August.”
