Powell’s Books, the world’s largest independent bookstore and a destination for literary lovers all over the world, has announced that it’s temporarily closing its five Oregon stores in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company made the announcement Sunday on Twitter, with a tweet reading, “Dear Powell’s community: Effective immediately, we have decided to close our five Portland-area stores through 3/31 for the safety of our employees and community. It is our intention to keep the Powells.com online store open. Thank you for your continued support.”

Powell’s, founded in 1991, is one of the most famous businesses in Portland, Oregon, with a flagship store that stretches across an entire city block and features a million books.

KATU-TV reports that the store’s owner, Emily Powell, said in a statement, “We have continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation hour by hour, to put the safety and welfare of our employees, our customers, and our community first. Because at this time we feel that we cannot honor the social distancing guidelines presented by the CDC, we have decided that it is important for us to close our five Portland-area stores, effective immediately.”

Powell’s is one of the latest indie bookstores to shutter temporarily in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Publishers Weekly reports that Newtonville Books in Newton, Massachusetts; Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois; and Zenith Bookstore in Duluth, Minnesota, have all announced temporary closures.

Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.