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After a year and a half of hosting all sorts of events, gigs and workshops, one of Karachi’s few community spaces open to anyone and everyone, Kitab Ghar, has announced that it will be shutting its doors on May 31.

In an Instagram post, the management of the venue in PECHS said recent gentrification of the area around the citizen-run public library had led to an increase in rent, which they could no longer afford to pay.

They said they knew what the place meant to their patrons and the community that had formed around it, and that they “do not deliver this news lightly”. They said they had provided the city with a place to “love”, “laugh”, “make art”, “congregate” and “be political” for 18 months and would have loved to continue doing so were they not “being forced to shut down”.

“If you need a Kitab Ghar near you, trust us when we tell you that we need you more,” the management said and that, while they planned to relocate to a new spot and continue serving the city, they couldn’t afford to do so yet.

To that end, they said they had set up a fundraiser with a goal of collecting Rs500,000 to be put towards finding and setting up the next Kitab Ghar Karachi. “We exist because you do,” the library’s team said. “Wherever you are, if you believe in the Kitab Ghar mission, please donate.”

Kitab Ghar is free for people to visit and use as a study and social space, with some events being ticketed. The bulk of their funding comes from monthly donation pledges and one-time contributions by patrons.

The management thanked their “comrades, patrons, and regulars” for “walking with us in our justaju [struggle] for something better”.