NEW YORK (AP) — Amber Salazar is the kind of idealist you just knew would end up running a bookstore — a lifelong reader who felt angered “to the core” as she learned of book bans around the country. A resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Salazar last year opened Banned Wagon Books, a pop-up store she sets up everywhere from wineries to coffee shops, featuring such frequently censored works as Maia Kobabe's “Gender Queer,” Angie Thomas' “The Hate U Give” and Toni Morrison's “Beloved.” “I decided that no matter what it looked like, I was going to open a bookstore so that I could contribute in some small way and stand up for intellectual freedom in the U.S.,” explains Salazar, 33, who donates 5% of her profits to the American Library Association and other organizations opposing bans. “Since we were coming out of the pandemic at that time, I started thinking about ways to combine my love of literature and passion for intellectual freedom with my appreciation for the small businesses in my city who weathered some difficult storms through shutdowns and supply chain concerns.” Salazar is among a wave of new — and, often, younger — owners who have helped the independent book community dramatically expand, intensify and diversify.