Last week, the city of San Francisco gave 11 independent bookstores $103,000 in funds.

The city, in partnership with the nonprofit Working Solutions and the Small Business Development Center, awarded 11 bookstores grant money, including five in the Mission: Dog Eared Books, Bolerium Books, Mission: Comics & Art, Adobe Books & Art Cooperative and Alley Cat Books.

The money is part of the Bookstore SF Program, a pet project of the late Mayor Ed Lee, aimed at funding bookstore “revitalizations” that emphasize their roles as social hubs rather than simply places to purchase reading material.

Maybe it's time for Seattle — an international City of Literature, recognized by the United Nations, no less! — to consider doing the same.