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September 15, 2006
Recent History
I thought it would be interesting this month to post a blog message that was written as recently as the beginning of this year--but never made public.
We have never been naive about the state of affairs in the book industry, and a year ago we saw the writing on the walls very clearly. We knew that if we did not make major changes we would be closing by the summer of 2006. So we began having intensive staff meetings about what we could do. Even more deeply, we questioned ourselves about whether we should do anything at all.
As you can see, we did not close our doors. We have been successfully working on changing our business model and have been receiving tremendous support from our community. A direct fundraising campaign is helping us to raise the money needed for the work that has to get done before next summer. (If you didn't know, summer is traditionally the toughest time of year for booksellers. It's no coincidence that Cody's and Clean Well Lighted announced closure this past July.) We have currently reached 50% of our fundraising goal, but are trying to raise the other half by the time of our 35th anniversary celebration this October.
Help has come in the form of an interest-free loan from Rainbow Grocery, for which we are deeply thankful and which helped us through the summer. We are both part of NoBAWC and work together in that spirit. It has also come from the generosity of our friends who have not only offered to pass on our fundraising letter, but to write their own cover letters in support of us. This includes Hari Dillon of the Vanguard Foundation, Jennifer Joseph of Manic D Press, and Dave Eggers of McSweeney's. And finally, it has come from our friends at New College of California who have stepped in to work in partnership with us. We are collaborating with them to bring you even more events, and they have been providing us with various types of support from publicity to tech help. Currently, plans are in the works to convert our back room into a weekend classroom space for their writing program. More importantly, their spirit of optimism has encouraged us to keep up the good fight.
So we continue onward and, hopefully, upward. If we can get the funds we need, we will continue forward with our business plans. Following is the text of that blog that was never posted...
From January 2006
Staff meetings are internal things, but I want to share with you the nature of the discussions we’ve been having around here recently. Modern Times, after thirty-four years, is in grave danger of shutting down.
This is nothing particular to our bookstore, it is the current nature of the business. When we look around at our fellow booksellers we see the same crisis everywhere. Those that have survived have usually done so because of drastic changes—store relocations, personal funding, major donors who then sit on boards in exchange for their contributions, etc. The big question at our meetings has been: What do we need to do in order to continue as a viable business? A number of plans have come to mind, but all will require investment. Bank loans are unfortunately not an option.
To raise the money, aye there’s the rub. To do so we must make others believe in us. This brought up a deeper staff discussion. What is our vision? What do we believe in? We cannot ask others to share our vision if we do not fully have one. Why are we here? Why do we continue to work for non-living wages? It’s certainly not our love for having to do our own janitorial work, or holding second jobs to make ends meet.
So the question that arose was, Why do we bother? Given the financial, emotional, and personal strains of working at an independent bookstore, what is it we believe in that keeps us going?
The range of responses was wide: The privilege of working in a democratic workplace based on collective decision making; being part of an alternative space open to dialogue, thought, and differing views; the chance to be involved in not just one but many movements; the sense of community; standing up and supporting independent media and activism; providing popular education and alternative voices; working on the frontlines against cultural homogenization; being an independent local business in a vibrant neighborhood; and the pleasure of being part of not only a bookstore but a movement.
We don’t know yet how we will raise the funds to finance the needed changes, or what exactly those changes will be yet, but we are working on it. What we do know is that it needs to happen very, very soon if we hope to get through to the summer of 2006. We will keep you posted as the process unfolds.
posted by Brenda O'Sullivan
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