(A) Brief History of Left Bank Books

Left Bank Books has been a fixture of Seattle's radical community since 1973 when a group of people split off from the University District’s Red and Black Books to form their own collective bookstore in the Pike Place Market. The two projects would continue as separate but mutually supportive projects until the mid 90’s when Red and Black closed its doors.

The bookstore began as a small kiosk in the Pike Place Market which sold mostly pins and bumper stickers. Within a year or so Left Bank moved around the corner to the street front of Pike and First where it has remained for over 30 years. Left Bank’s collection has expanded from pins and bumper stickers (still incredibly popular with our customers) to a wide range of new and used books, periodicals, zines, t-shirts, patches, postcards, note cards, posters and more.

For much of the 80s and 90s, the Left Bank Books Collective expanded to include two other projects: AKA Books, a used bookstore in Seattle's University District, as well as a wholesale distribution and mail order project known as Left Bank Distribution. Neither of these projects exists today due to financial problems and rental situations in Seattle. 

Left Bank is collectively owned and operated by its workers, and has been since its inception. As an anarchist collective, Left Bank has no bosses or managers. Decisions are made in bi-monthly collective meetings based on a consensus process. Despite all the changes over the years, Left Bank Books continues to thrive at our Pike Place Market storefront thanks to Seattle's radical community and the many folks who visit us from out of town. See you next time you're in the neighborhood!