Local News: Amplify Bookstore: a safe haven for diverse voices in the heart of Melbourne

Located on Peel St, Amplify Bookstore is a proudly “anti-racist social enterprise” dedicated to uplifting books by authors of colour.

Founded by Xuan and Marina during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Amplify began as an online platform before opening its physical space in late 2024.

We were inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, and we were sort of seeing the reaction that people were having, especially readers, to the lack of diversity in publishing, Marina said.

“Only about 11 per cent of books are published by people of colour,” Xuan added.

Xuan and Marina saw a brief wave of interest in diverse books but noticed the momentum fading.

“People were pre-ordering books and not picking up, so we figured that there has to be a better way to make a long-term, more sustainable effort to diversifying people's reading,” Xuan said.

At Amplify, that commitment to accessibility is built into everything – from their searchable online catalogue to curated book boxes.

“Basically, I do a lot of Googling,” Marina laughed.

“Publishers don't really have a lot of stats or information, we’ve got like two reps who send us actually useful lists – everything else is us combing through monthly new releases.”

For those unsure where to start, Marina and Xuan are there to help.

“We have everything that your average bookstore has,” Marina said.

A unique aspect of Amplify’s offering is its Discovery Pack subscription.

“It’s two books every two months and we rotate between regions,” Xuan told North West City News.

“You’re getting books from a different place and a different area of the world, different cultures.”

Regional book boxes for Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, and more are all available at Amplify.

Community has been central to Amplify’s mission, with the opening of their physical space deepening their impact.

“We’ve built a really nice community around ourselves,” Xuan said.

“It’s something we started with an impact and mission focus, to try to create change for kids – like the kind of thing that would have been really nice to have when we were kids,” Marina added.

Amplify also runs a monthly book club on the last Thursday and Friday of each month, and upstairs they’ve created a reading room that will double as a gallery space for local artists.

“There’s a little library collection up there as well as a quiet place to sit,” Xuan said.

“The work that we do here has an impact, even if it's a small impact, at least it makes a difference for someone.” •