There are libraries that are monuments. Terry Craven and Charlotte Deattre were formed in one of them: Shakespeare & Company, on the banks of Sena, in the fifth district of Paris. 10 years ago, an opportunity brought them to Madrid to build its own literary trench. Since then, they are partners and owners of Desperate Literature, an independent international bookstore at number 13 of Campomanes street that, by force of these booksellers, became an essential space of the Madrid cultural scene. But at the beginning of 2023, the building with Neoarabes stucco that once housed neighbors and associations such as Ecologists in Action was bought by an investment fund to turn it into tourist homes. In a matter of days, Craven and Deattre received the ultimatum: see. Everything that happened next, they say, has been immense. that an architect friend accompanied them to see the more than 15 stores they visited to buy; to have found an old greengrocer on the street of La Cava Baja, put on sale by its owners and not for a real estate; That banks, family and friends give them thousands of euros; that their readers will donate another 28,000 in a crowdfunding (which continues to add here); That 10 years of experience will give them enough muscle to overcome an unexpected move in a city with the price of the land in historical maximums: 6,619 euros the square meter in the Central District, according to the latest update of the idealistic real estate portal in December. Good luck. «We have 300,000 euros of debt, but I do not feel fear,» says Craven, in front of the yellow closing of the number 8 of La Cava Baja, in the La Latina neighborhood, which from April will be the new literature. Reports it puts it differently: «It is cheaper to pay 14 years on loan and stay in the center.» They know Madrid: they are convinced that in a new rent, there is no guarantee that in five years they will not throw them again. To report, things took a turn after the pandemic. «The city began to change at a speed that I have not seen elsewhere,» he says. When they arrived in the capital, in 2014, she and her partner settled in the same local in Campomanes 13, in the Opera neighborhood. There, with 10 euros a day, they worked and slept, with the business open from Monday to Monday. Thus lived two years. «It was the only way to start,» he explains, smiling. Something that would be impossible today, argues Craven. And he laments: “When we decided to live outside the store, I rented something in the same building for 500 euros; Now it is double, and it will rise more. ”One of the owners of 'Desperate literature' paste a sign on the facade of the Campomanes Street 13 announcing the move. Others retired without generational relief. In full crisis, the properties available for these two phenomena were bought by chains or in order to convert to homes (either for particular or tourist use). Between July 2021 and January 2022, 2,000 stores suffered this change, according to the City Council Database. By 2023, there were already 8,169 homes of this type, which meant a growth of 26.25% compared to values prior to the pandemic. Since they acquired the premises in Latin, Craven and Deatter work as in their beginnings: all day . Being booksellers in Campomanes become masons in Cava Baja. From the current literature literature go to the future literature, and back to the other. In between, they organize the Short Fiction Prize, a contest of short stories that have been held since 2017, and that this year has Mariana Enriquez, Henry Hoke and Ottessa Moshfegh as a jury. And all this counterreloj. «When you have an investment fund in front, what is needed is money,» says Craven. Around it, the subsoil of the new place, framed by semicircular arches, shows off its bricks after weeks of concrete. SOMEONE CALL AT THE DOOR. Going up the stairs, the bookseller completes the phrase: «But, for us, It Takes to Village …» (In Spanish, «a town is needed»). At the entrance of the premises a friend with a toolbox awaits. It is one of the many that constitutes that people. Having an independent library gives many things in return, but one must be constantly thinking about it, a report confesses. «It's like being a monk,» he says. The same image used Library Master George Whitman, founder of Shakespeare & Company, who died in 2011. When asked about his work in the bookstore, located in an old Parisian monastery, they say he said: “In the Middle Ages, each Monastery had a Frère Lampier, a monk whose task was to light the lamps at night. Now I am the Frère Lampier here. It is the modest role that I exercise. ” The desperate booksellers of Campomanes Street will continue to light their lamps, since April at number 8 of the Low Cava. In part, thanks to the help of your Frères Lecteurs.