I tapped my ID at the Butler Library entrance, conscious of the trail of water my umbrella created on the floor. I was going to be late to my appointment at Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library. I took the east elevator up to floor six, opened the glass doors, navigated through the Original Copies: Facsimiles and their Mediations of Authenticity and Ownership exhibit, and made my way to reception.

Revolution Books, located in Central Harlem, was quieter than usual on Friday, October 14. Employees of the exclusively volunteer-run bookstore and members of the Revolutionary Communist Party were 20 blocks away on Columbia’s College Walk.