A web document, Danny de Vries, 6/12/01

Internationalist Bookstore and Community Center, Chapel Hill, NC
 
 

This is an overview of some internet research on infoshops in the USA. It starts with general info on what an Infoshop is, then it lists a bunch of sites to look at with information, and it ends with a conclusion that suggests directions to go for the Internationalist Bookstore based on the above. I have tried to capture a sense of the range of activities I encountered at various websites from Infoshops and have looked for financial and activity information.
 
 

1. WHAT IS AN INFOSHOP

Good info from a Librarian Conference session can be found here: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~mai/infoshop_page.html.

I have summarized points from the articles below.

http://burn.ucsd.edu/~mai/infoshops_defined.html

• cross between a radical bookstore and a movement archive.
• Activists go there to read or buy movement literature
• buy paraphenalia such as stickers, masks and spray paint
• attend meetings, lectures or films
• just plain hang out.
• prevalent in Europe, especially in Germany where there are over sixty.
• They form a decentralized information network, distributing magazines, flyers etc. to local activists and providing information about local activities to other infoshops.
• Many papers are produced at infoshops and distributed through the infoshop network. Mobilize local activists.
• Important part of autonomist left movements in many European countries.
• Most infoshops rent their space, but many are in squats. Others use part of a cafe or center.
• Some are run by one collective, while others have a different group in charge each day.
• None of them have paid positions.
• Most infoshops have a women-only day either weekly or monthly.
• Other groups use it as a meeting place, and as a mailing address. The latter is especially useful for security reasons.
• Infoshops receiving numerous movement papers, would help keep the movement better informed.
• Infoshops can be equipped with a telephone, fax, or computer, making communications that much easier between groups.
• And infoshops serve the role of a movement center, building community and facilitating action.

The Infoshop Network, United Kingdom

http://www.radicalfluff.demon.co.uk/infoshops_network/:

http://burn.ucsd.edu/~mai/texts/infoshop_chuck.html:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/7423/infoshop.html

Here are the main creative ideas/observations:

• collectively-run library which archives alternative press publications
• a radical book shop where customers are free to use the photocopier to create their own zines
• neighborhood center with programs on bookbinding
• a congenial place to hang out.
• venues for concerts, video screenings, and political discussions,
• A space for organizations to hold meetings.
• Usually operating on a shoestring, they may rely on pass-the-hat donations--or, occasionally, anonymous benefactors--to pay the rent
• They come as diverse as Peace and justice centers; as predominantly bookstores; as specialized libraries which stock material most libraries do not have; as punk music stores with materials unlike to be found in libraries
• Network of Anarchist Collectives (NAC) started (Dis)Connection in mid 1990s. Now the network is no longer active.
• Many infoshops have come and gone in the past five or six years. 1) financial problems, 2) neighborhood communication difficulties (many are organized by white youth in communities populated by minorities). 3) Infoshops are also threatened by other internal and external political pressures (internal rifts, rising rents, political pressure,
• Librarians who know about infoshops generally agree that their presence indicates some degree of failure on the part of urban libraries.
• serving coffee,
• providing comfortable chairs,
• abolishing fines,
• setting up community bulletin boards.
• Zine archive,
• distribution point for free publications,
• meeting room,
• day care center,
• concert venue,
• free school,
• mail drop for activist groups,
• bookstore:

Infoshops that are bookstores: http://www.eco-action.org/infoshops/bookshops.html
 
 
 
 

2. SOME INFOSHOPS WEBSITES TO LOOK AT
 
 

Left Bank Books Collective: http://www.leftbankbooks.com/

Place: Seattle

Finances: semi-independent projects, operating with a small paid staff and the aid of numerous volunteers. Non-profit??

Activities:

• Online store with a catalog
• Actual bookstore (now discontinued)
• Books to Prisoners project is a non-profit project, run entirely by volunteers, whose purpose is to fulfill the reading needs of prisoners.

The Lucy Parsons Center: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7251/lpc.html

Place: Cambridge, MA

Finances: 501 C3

Activities

• Books, zines
• Lectures
• Newsletter
• Books to Prisoners project

The Alternative Reading Room: http://www.cs.unca.edu/~edmiston/tarr.html

Place: Asheville, NC

Finances: Founded in 1990, TARR was anomalous; funded by a local philanthropist, it specialized in subscriptions to hundreds of environmental and political periodicals. 1995: "It is being run by volunteers now and you can reach _them_ at my old address, tarr@mercury.interpath.net or by calling 252-2501."

Activities: Now closed?
 
 

Arise! Bookstore and Media Center: http://www.mtn.org/paarise/

Place: Minneapolis

Finances: ?

Activities:

• Events, meetings
• Library
• The Arise! Newspaper (5000 copies each issue, and solicit ads so the paper can be free).
• 2,000 titles for sale, and, like other stores, carry magazines, videos, t-shirts, buttons, bumperstickers and CDs.
• a computer, fax machine and printer for public use,
• hand-copied cut-and-paste zines and pamphlets on everything from organic gardening and hip-hop culture to changing one’s identity
• a meeting room that hosts speaking events

The Autonomous Zone: http://www.neiu.edu/~aadams/azone.html

Place: Chicago

Finances: "Many people (but never enough...) give a monthly pledge to the A-Zone and that gives us about half of our operating budget. The amounts range wildly but average $10-20." They have a Financial Committee who collects monthly pledges, write grant applications and appraise the collective of the A-zone's perpetually precarious financial status.

Activities:

• Lending library (with books, videos, and zines) and new books and zines available for a donation.
• The A-Zone hosts the Free Skool (more on this later),
• Educational and social events,
• Meeting space for groups and collectives.
• Monthly calendar

Civic Media Center: http://www.gator.net/~cmc/

Place: Gaynesville, Florida

Finances: They have 501_c3 status. "We're supported by memberships, donations, community volunteers, and several community groups in Gainesville, Florida which use the Center regularly as a meeting place or office space, and make regular donations. "

Activities:

• We are one of the few alternative libraries in the U.S. We carry books, journals, 'zines, videotapes, audio tapes, and newspapers by independent, non-corporate press on a wide variety of subjects. Members of the CMC are entitled to check our any of our books, audio tapes and video tapes. Books can be checked out for a period of two weeks and audio/video tapes can be checked out for three days.
• We host many events, including the first and only National Conference on Censorship.
• Also available to members are the CMC's computer services. The CMC has access to many online services, including Left-on-Line and the World Wide Web. CMC volunteers can provide instructions on how to use these services on a one-to-one basis and can also help set up an e-mail account for members on the Alachua Free-Net.

Assata: http://www.antenna.nl/~assata/

Place: Nijmegen, City in the Netherlands

Finances: They rely on book sales, and mention that only with concrete projects they get donations and subsidies (the latter from the government). Volunteer organization

Activities:

• Takes part in local and national projects. Works together with the City council against racism and Anti Fascist Action. They say to work for a longer duration on concrete points; recently anti-fascism, city politics, and the media.
• They have a library with an extensive newspaper article archive.
• They have some of their own publications, such as their newsletter (Activist 042), articles to the regional and local media, and the annual city guide. This "Alternative City Guide" has an annual report of the ups and downs of the activist movement in the city, a comprehensive address list of alternative organizations, and a guide for critical consuming in the city, for when you go shopping. Of the 1997 guide they sold 650 copies (mostly of the critical consumption part). They do not mention any more recent guides and presumably dropped or outsourced.
• They also mention to have been connected to computer networks which provides international and national information. "You are always welcome to come and use our email facilities".
• They organize theme evening, manifestations, and actions, and support initiatives of others (like political prisioners in the USA!).

Barricade

Place: Melbourne, Australia

Finances: "We have no funding from state, church or any other institution."

Activities:

• Barricade Books stock anarchist books, pamphlets, newspapers magazines, posters, t-shirts, records, CDs, patches and second hand books, along with a range of related material on feminism, syndicalism, fiction, etc.
• Library

Infoship.Org: http://www.infoshop.org/Welcome.html

Place: Internet

Finances: Volunteer run

Activities: Cyber source for activism. They have a Southern page (Internationalist is not listed).
 
 

Long Haul Infoshop: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~resist/

Place: Berkeley, CA

Finances: ?

Activities: The Long Haul Infoshop is an activist center and reading room located in Berkeley California.
 
 

Crescent Wrench Books & Infoshop: http://www.webdsi.com/frno/anouncem.htm

Place: New Orleans

Finances: mail order business specializing in anti-authoritarian materials

Activities: They are an all volunteer, collectively run bookstore dedicated to progressive social change. They recently closed, but are open for mail order until they get a new space. To get a catalog by sending $1 or $2
 
 

Freedom and Mutual Aid Center http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/5447/

Closed down? Last update in 1997.
 
 

Blackout Books & Infoshop: http://blackout.books.xs2.net/, and http://www.panix.com/~blackout

Place: New York City

Finances: Blackout Books is an all volunteer organization.

Activities: closed down?
 
 

Zine Libraries Website: http://www.zinebook.com/resource/libes.html
 
 
 
 

3. CONCLUSIONS RELEVANT TO THE INTERNATIONALIST BOOKSTORE

1. Ibooks is and has been an infoshop since its beginning in 1980, considering that all its activities fall under the descriptions laid out above (e.g. providing an outlet for alternative literature, skill-shares, meeting space, community events, hang out space, mobilizing activists, teach-ins.)
2. Defined as such, Ibooks is perhaps one of the oldest infoshops in the USA. Most infoshops initiated a decade later as a reaction on the Gulf War
3. Ibooks is an infoshop which has had an emphasis on books
4. Ibooks actually has fared fairly well having had a staffed position. This is unique for infoshops, who all struggle and frequently perish (like Asheville, or the Beehive Collective (http://burn.ucsd.edu/~mai/texts/demise.html)
5. The following activities have not (yet) developed completely in Ibooks and have been mentioned by others:

• Online sales of books (see Left Bank Books Collective or Barricade)
• The Lending library has been a cornerstone for many Infoshops (see Arise!, the Autonomous Zone, Civic Media Center).
• Archiving local newspaper articles on anarchism, and old zines, etc. is an important component, related to the library point.
• The Reading Room aspect is crucial and can not be overlooked. Free coffee might be a good idea.
• Having a public access to computers and email is mentioned
• Newsletters and publications are prevalent. For example, in the Netherlands an "Alternative City Guide" to steer consumption habits is was published by an Infoshop (See Assata)
• The Civic Media Center hosted a conference as a fundraising and recognition project.
• Some Infoshops talk in the form of having "Projects".
• Books to Prisoners
• Day care center
• Concert venue