Downtown Books and News (aka the West 6th Street Library), a 24-hour adult bookstore, was located at 1352 West 6th Street. Downtown Books and News carried a “wide selection of gay magazines and newspapers,” as well as other products for sale. Patrons could also pay to view the store’s infamous “quarter movies” and other adult films in the store’s private (though sometimes public) viewing booths. Downtown Books and News was a popular cruising destination in 1980s Cleveland. One reviewer noted that sometimes “just a chance stop-by” at Downtown Books and News could “produce more than a whole evening of cruising” elsewhere.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- Shamu. “Cruisin’ and Boozin’ with Shamu.” Gay People’s Chronicle. November 1981. Page 19.