Host: Praveen Madan, Kepler’s Books
Participants:
- Jamilah, House of Pages
- Missy, Katy Budget Books
- Ryan Jackson, Open Books (Chicago)
- Suzanna Hermans, Oblong (Did primary note taking)
- Bradley, BookSmart
- Lanora, sales rep
- Deb, Literati Bookstore
- Kendra, reader
- Sandra, reader/author
- Clancey, Seminary Co-Op
- Esme, Firestorm Books
- Latanya, Bronx Bound Books
- Alex, PW
- Will, Emerson Collective
- Vanessa, author
- Denise, author
- Bradley, Morgan Hill Books
- Dan
- Bunnie, Brave + Kind Bookshop
- Kristin, Hicklebees
- Roy – Rozzie Bound
- Amber, Left Bank
- Sara, Charis Books
- Jahtiek, P&T Knitwear
- Daniel, ABA
- Evan Karp, bookseller/publisher
- Amanda Hall, Kepler’s
- hybrid (non-profit arm), was curious to find out what a stewardship council means
- Denise: has fundraising experience, here to learn and would love to help.
- Oh, one thing I forgot to say: Part of my book sales strategy was purposefully telling all my supporters not to buy from Amazon (b/c Amazon is not a good friend to the Latinx community…and many others).
- Alex: sees this entire gathering as a shift & step forward in organizing among booksellers, excited to see how it might lead to systemic change.
- Kendra: here as a reader with a strong lifelong connection to her local bookstore (Kepler’s), wants to keep bookselling moving forward.
- Kristin: curious about all the different models for bookselling, wants to learn more.
- How do we keep publishers engaged in the stewardship council? As we explore nonprofit/co-op models, it seems important that we make sure that publishers still view us as profitable enough partners to give us access to their product, right?
- Evan: curious to see what we can do together in a non-hierarchical group, with follow-ups.
- Will: social purpose group, wants to learn more about what bookstores are up against.
- Sandra: mission is to enable diverse stakeholders to convene together & produce results (share info)
- Daniel: trying to strategize new ways to support bookstores & sustainability; what can ABA provide & what are its limits; one priority is increasing access to capital
- Vanessa: here to listen
- Roy: plans to incorporate as cultural cooperative, multi-stakeholder, wants to connect cooperative bookstores, wants to see more mentorship
- Bookseller Survey for purpose of starting a Cooperative Booksellers Network: https://forms.gle/CZkPZEfyiDsr1ZRK7
“Rozzie Bound is a new bookstore in Boston in the process of becoming a worker and consumer owned cooperative. We are also trying to create a network of stores that are either cooperatives or interested in exploring cooperative ownership. We have hosted two virtual meetups, created a Directory of Cooperative Bookstores (https://rozziebound.com/cooperative-bookstores/), and are hoping to find more stores interested in joining such a mutual support network.”
Reimagining Bookstores 