LOGAN SQUARE — Former employees of the now-closed Logan Square Open Books said they were told they were losing their jobs just a day before the company announced the store’s closure.
Open Books, the popular literacy organization, closed its Logan Square store, 2068 N. Milwaukee Ave., March 1 due to financial challenges and low sales there, Open Books management said. It has two remaining stores.
Jennifer Steele, Open Books executive director, sent a public letter to the community in early February about the closure, saying the decision was made to protect the nonprofit’s mission and finances. Steele told Block Club last week the store was not turning a profit and the decision was made after months of evaluations and meetings with management and board members.
But the four staff members who worked at the Logan Square store said they were blindsided by the decision and terminated as they came into work on the same day they learned about the store closure, one day before Steele alerted the public in early February.
The former employees said the sudden termination was shocking and disrespectful.
“I understand why they made the decision to close the store, but I felt disrespected by the organization and the leadership that they didn’t give us any prior notice,” said Charlie Bendtsen-Schumann, who worked at the location for half a year.
The former employees said they wished they were able to work at the store until it closed and to have income while they looked for new jobs.
“The directors disregarded booksellers’ expertise a lot, and this is apparent in the way that they terminated us, because they didn’t even give us a chance to work in the store until closing and collaborate with them on ways to make sure the books that are remaining in here get a better home,” said former employee Rae Clay.
The Open Books store at 2068 N. Milwaukee Ave. seen closed on March 13, 2026. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
Steele said the decision to terminate the four employees without prior notice, and to not offer them an extra month of work, was made to save money for the sake of the larger organization.
“Given the resources that we had at the time, we had to make decisions on the timeline that … allowed us to be able to preserve our ability to continue our mission work,” Steele said.
Staff from other Open Books locations worked the Logan Square store, which had reduced hours during its last weeks, also a financial decision, Steele said.
There was no financial room for the four employees to stay at the organization and work at other locations, Steele said.
The former Logan Square workers were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a severance package, according to three former employees and emails from management that were shared with Block Club. The agreement shared with Block Club had a non-disclosure and confidentiality clause, as well as a section requiring signees not make “disparaging” statements about the organization online or to any third parties.
None of the four former employees signed the agreement, and they did not receive their severance, they said. Open Books offered them $500-$2,000 depending on how long each employee had worked there, former staff said.
Steele said the employees were provided the “best support that we could financially as they were exiting the organization.” She declined to share more about the agreement, citing personnel policies.
The front of Open Books’ new headquarters in North Lawndale seen Nov. 3, 2023. Credit: Trey Arline/ Block Club Chicago
Bendtsen-Schumann, Clay and other former staffers said the way the closure was handled goes against Open Books’ core values of respect for and accountability to its employees and the public. Former store manager Kimberly Salamanca was not aware of any financial struggles the nonprofit was facing, she said.
“Usually, in meetings they would update us on how we were doing, and it had not been mentioned at that point that we were close to a closure or that it was coming,” Salamanca said.
Steele pushed back, saying management had meetings with staff in the fall where they disclosed the nonprofit’s financial challenges, and the team tried to come up with strategies to hit necessary financial marks for sustainability.
Some Logan Square neighbors also criticized the organization online for throwing away books as the location closed. But Steele and former employees said the practice, called weeding, is standard among libraries and bookstores. Recycling damaged or worn books opens up room for new inventory and keeps the donated books up to high quality, Steele said.
“What’s really important about our book granting is that we have a really high standard for those high-quality books that we give to the children and communities we are serving,” she said.
The Open Books Mobile parked at the Story Trail at Unity Park at 1900 S. Kostner Ave. in North Lawndale, seen June 17, 2025. Credit: Provided
Books from the Logan Square location — roughly 60,000, former employees estimate — will be given to other Open Books locations, donation programs and warehouses. Some people have also expressed desire in taking the books for their own bookstores, Steele said.
Ultimately, the former Logan Square store employees want the public to know how they were terminated and want to encourage the nonprofit’s leadership to increase communication and treat staff better.
Steele, who has led Open Books for two years, said her team acknowledges communication is important and they “always strive to do their best at” it. She said she understands the impact the closure has had on the four former staff members and is open to communicating with them directly.
“Open Books has a built-in fan base, people who really believe in Open Books and in the mission, and I do think it’s a good mission,” Bendtsen-Schumann said. “People deserve to know some things that are going on behind the scenes; I feel that they hide behind their mission in order to sometimes disrespect the staff and the people that work there.
“People can come to their own conclusions about what that means for Open Books.”
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