Taking Libraries to the Street: Infoshops & Alternative Reading Rooms.

Abstract

FOR LIBRARIANS I magine a collectively run library that archives alternative-press publications. Envision a politically radical bookshop where customers can use the photocopier free of charge to create their own self published zines. Picture a neighborhood center with programs on topics ranging from bookbinding to how to make your own menstrual pad. Now combine the three into one and you have the Crescent Wrench Infoshop in New Orleans. This volunteer-staffed storefront media [pmjMH^|^r 1 center is just one of many such do-it-yourself endeavors that have ^^^^llHlH sprung up throughout North America in recent years. J The Long Haul in Berkeley, Chicago's Autonomous Zone, Mayday ^^^^^^^^^^^H| Books and the Arise! Resource Center and Bookstore in Minneapolis, |HH^H|^^^^^^^^H| and New York City's Blackout Books are other volunteer-run street ^H|^H|^HHHH| libraries, known generically as infoshops. Typically founded and ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^1 run by young people, often from the anarchist and punk movements, H||fl|H|^^H!^^^^^^^H infoshops offer more than a place to hang out. They often serve as ^^^^Btt^lHHMPHI^^I venues for concerts, video screenings, and political discussions, be^^^^^^^^R^MhJk9|^H sides providing a space for like-minded organizations ^^HHHIEHH^^^^H

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