Imagine that you’re working on self-publishing a book. It’s been five years of ups and downs of fundraising and editing. Now, it’s finally here on your doorstep — all 3,000 copies on 12 pallets — and it’s time to get them in the hands of your readers.

Earlier this year, that was the scenario faced by Lindy Drew and Dessa Somerside, the authors of the Humans of St. Louis book, who spent a month of late nights in the basement of Big Brothers, Big Sisters getting everything packaged for delivery or drop off.

“We had so many volunteers help us,” Drew says. “My mom came out. My partner came out. The friends that we dance with at Club Viva came out. People just wanted to help us.”

That community support speaks to the very heart of the Humans of St. Louis organization, which will celebrate the launch of its book tomorrow at the Schlafly Public Library.

A local nonprofit, the group has been sharing the stories and photographs of St. Louis people and places on social media with the aim to promote “civic engagement and social good” since 2014. Drew, who was a social work student at Washington University at the time, founded the organization with Caroline Fish after seeing the original Humans of New York account.

Drew’s background is in documentary street photography, and that quickly showed up in her HOSTL work. She’d set out on her…