Infoshop
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An infoshop is a storefront or social center that serves as a node for the distribution of political, subcultural and arts information, typically in the form of books, zines, stickers and posters. Infoshops often serve as a meeting space and resource hub for local activist groups.
Infoshops are particularly prevalent in Western Europe and North America, but can be found around the world. According to an Utne Reader article, author Chris Atton describes British infoshops as having grown "out of the squatted anarchist centres of the 1980s, such as the 121 Centre in Brixton, London."[1] Another big influence was the regular European-wide International Infoshop Meetings of the 1990s.
Writing in Maximum RocknRoll, anarchist librarian Chuck Munson places North American infoshops in the lineage of Vietnam War era peace and justice centers.[2]
In June 2006, the Infoshop Network, a network spanning Canada and the United States, was formed at the Infoshop Gathering in Baltimore, Maryland.[3]
Zine library
A zine library is a repository of zines and other associated artifacts, such as small press books. These generally have minimal budgets. They have a close association with infoshops and other forms of DIY culture and independent media.
List of infoshops
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- ABC No Rio, New York City
- Black Rose, Sydney Australia
- Bluestockings, New York City
- bolo'bolo, Cape Town, South Africa
- Boxcar Books, Bloomington, Indiana
- Camas Infoshop, Victoria, BC
- Civic Media Center, Gainesville, Florida
- Coffee Strong, Lakewood, WA
- Copy & Destroy Zine Library, Brisbane, Australia
- Cream City Collectives, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Documentations, Informations, Références et Archives (DIRA), Montreal, Quebec
- Firestorm Cafe & Books, Asheville, North Carolina
- Freedom Shop, Wellington New Zealand
- Holdout, Oakland, California
- Insoumise bookstore, Montreal, Quebec
- Internationalist Books, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Iron Rail Book Collective, New Orleans
- Ivar Matlaus Bokkafé, Trondheim, Norway
- Jura Books, Sydney Australia
- Long Haul Infoshop, Berkeley, California
- Lucy Parsons Center, Boston, Massachusetts
- Taala Hooghan Infoshop, Flagstaff, Arizona
- The Blood-Orange InfoShop, Riverside, California
- The Madison InfoShop, Madison, Wisconsin
- The Melbourne Anarchist Club, Infoshop, Library & Social Space, Melbourne, Australia
- The Old Market Autonomous Zone, Winnipeg, Canada
- Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, Baltimore, Maryland
- Salon Mazal, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Spartacus Books, Vancouver, BC
- Wooden Shoe Books, Philadelphia
- WORM, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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See also
References
External links
![]() | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (March 2012) |
- Street Libraries: Infoshops and Alternative Reading Rooms
- The Infoshop Network (US & Canada)
- Comprehensive list of infoshops worldwide, via the Anarchist Yellow Pages.
- The Living Room documentary, a film about infoshop culture
- zinelibrary.info: An online zine library with user created content.
- Zine World: List of infoshops and zine libraries
- Radical Reference: Alternative libraries and infoshops