October Books
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October Books is a not-for-profit co-operative bookshop in the Portswood area of Southampton, UK.
It was founded in 1977 as a left-wing political bookshop in Onslow Road, Southampton. The shop was originally staffed by volunteers and run by members of a Collective. In 1981, it became a neighbourhood co-operative, independent from any one political organisation, seeing itself instead as a community-based radical bookshop. It expanded its range of books to include gay, feminist, environmental, anti-capitalist, vegetarian/vegan, and disability rights issues.
Geographically, the Onslow Road shop became isolated. It was once surrounded by alternative and co-operatively run businesses, but these businesses and the communities that they served largely closed down or moved away from the area. Consequently, in 2003, October Books moved to a larger shop in Portswood Road, Southampton, and expanded its stock into more general bookselling, whilst maintaining its radical range of books. It also started to sell Fair Trade and environmental goods.
It remains a co-operative, and is still run by a collective.
