Jian Bookstore

Jian Bookstore, founded in 2016, established Jian Yi Culture Co., Ltd. in 2018 and has been operating at its current location for eight years. With a core team of 6 partners, it is situated in Keelung City's Miaokou business district, adjacent to the Keelung Cultural Center. Embracing the vision of becoming Keelung's 'Cultural Heart,' it provides Keelung residents with an independent bookstore that is open year-round and always accessible, while also fostering various possibilities for dialogue through its space. We highlight 'Ocean' and 'Taiwan' in our book selections as tools for conveying local knowledge. Furthermore, we utilize the bookstore and its extended surrounding areas to host a wide range of arts and cultural exhibitions, lectures, performances, walking tours, and book clubs. This enriches local cultural life, empowers partners operating arts and cultural venues, and embodies the concept of local 'life practice.' 'Opening a bookstore is an ongoing social movement' is Jian Bookstore's core philosophy. At the time the decision was made to open, Keelung's last bookstore had closed for renovation (now permanently ceased operations). The founder, driven by a personal love for arts and culture and a desire to prevent reading culture from disappearing locally, decided to re-enter the book industry. After opening, we approached operations from the perspective of cultural venue management, creating a space that encourages the development of diverse issues. Our core philosophy is integrated through a grassroots work process of 'identifying problems, analyzing issues, becoming an agenda, and formulating action plans.' This establishes advocacy and actions that respond to local needs. Beyond reading books, deep encounters with Keelung, Taiwan, and the ocean that nurtured us are all part of our blueprint. Important milestones for the bookstore are as follows: * **2016:** Jian Bookstore established. Moved to its current location in 2018 and registered as Jian Yi Culture Co., Ltd. for operation. * **2018:** Opened at the current location in May. In the same year, hosted the 'Youth Stay Local Forum,' inviting legislators and youth council members from various parties for a consensus meeting and discussion. * **2020:** Published the store magazine 'Searching for Keelung Fields,' focusing on people encountered in the bookstore, issued quarterly for readers to pick up. * **2020:** With the outbreak of the pandemic, the bookstore released five types of 'Jian Book Bags,' packaging books, instructional videos, and creative materials into a single kit, enabling people confined at home during the pandemic to engage in creative 'life practice.' * **2021-2022:** 'Searching for Keelung Fields' store magazine published 12 issues. Commissioned by the Keelung City Government to produce the 'Sun-drying Keelung' cultural tourism special issue, representing the Keelung City Government in the TAPA International Tourism Gold Award. * **2023:** The store magazine was revamped and published in book form, releasing the special issue 'Hunting for Keelung Food,' where staff members wrote or drew about their dining experiences in Keelung. From April onwards, the bookstore stopped closing on weekends, staying open from 9:00 AM on Friday until 10:00 PM on the following Monday, paying tribute to 24-hour bookstores. * **December 2024:** Hosted the 'Blues Reading Market,' a themed market combining blues music and reading. * **2024:** Selected as a Youth Empowerment Workstation by the National Development Council. In March, hosted 2 sessions of the innovative book market - 'Book Cave Market,' with over 30,000 participants. A painting and text exhibition inside an air-raid shelter was viewed by over 70,000 people over two weeks. Published one issue of the 'Searching for Keelung Fields' store magazine. * **2023-2024:** Hosted over 100 events annually.