Normal's Book & Records and the 31st St. Bookstore

Normal’s Books and Records now occupies the former home of the 31st Street Bookstore, a key organizational site for Baltimore’s feminist and lesbian community during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

The store became Normal’s in 1990, and is still run as a cooperative venture. They are unique in displaying single copies of their titles and selling one at a time. Of Normal's, Loyola University Maryland English professor Nick Miller recalls, "When my boys were younger, we had a mini-tradition of going to Normal's on the day after school let out for the summer. Our rule was they could buy anything they wanted and they loved combing the shelves for crazy stuff instead of the 'classics' Dad was always pushing." 

Sources:

Judy Colbert, Insiders’ Guide to Baltimore (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).

Louise Parker Kelley, LGBT Baltimore (Arcadia Press, 2015).