Collective 101

Left Bank Books is a collectively operated business. This means that we have no boss; we are our own boss. The core staff is composed of roughly six paid members. We are responsible for bookkeeping, invoice payment, ordering, taxes, lease negotiations, volunteer coordination, marketing, and general store maintenance. We also have approximately twenty weekly volunteers who work at the store in exchange for discounts on books, and learning how to run an independent bookstore. History as a Left Bank volunteer is required to be hired for a paid staff position.

In 1973, Left Bank Books was founded by a small collective. In the late 1990’s Left Bank Books became registered as a federal corporation. This transition was made namely so that in the event of financial difficulty at the store, individual employees would not be held financially responsible. Left Bank Books is not federally registered as a non-profit.

WHY A COLLECTIVE? So, why work in a collectively run business, and not one with a hierarchical structure? In our collective individuals are equally empowered to make decisions related to the store. We prioritize sharing knowledge and information with each other so that no one person possesses all the information about a particular task. We prefer to work in a non-hierarchical setting. All decisions are made through an informal consensus process. This means that all decisions are discussed until collective agreement is reached.