Wooden Shoe Books and Records, also known as The Wooden Shoe, is an anarchist bookstore and infoshop in Philadelphia. Founded in 1976, the store specializes in radical and non-traditional literature. Wooden Shoe is run by an all-volunteer worker collective that encourages community building and anti-capitalist activism.
Description
Located on 704 South Street in the South Street district, Wooden Shoe Books is in its third location.[1] The Wooden Shoe has always been primarily political, created with the intention of consolidating published anarchist materials into one location and providing opportunities for community organizing.[2] The shop volunteers its space to local organizations that align with its political goals of challenging systems of oppression.[3] Events include poetry readings, educational discussions, workshops, author talks, and rock shows.[3] The space also features a community board advertising local events such as book clubs and musical performances.[4]
The Wooden Shoe has been described as a "punk-rabbit-hole-on-acid of a shop."[3] Book categories include Native/Indigenous American Studies, Palestine, situationism, feminism, labor studies, imperialism, the prison–industrial complex, sustainable living, disabilities studies, and anarchism.[3] The collection includes books from anarchist publishers such as Autonomedia, AK Press, and Semiotext(e).[3] In addition to books, the store carries zines, vinyl records, buttons, stickers, posters, and t-shirts.[4]
History
The name of Wooden Shoe Books derives from workers who interrupted production during the Industrial Revolution by throwing wooden shoes (sabots) into machinery.[1] The bookstore opened in January 1976 and was founded by members of Philadelphia Solidarity, a group of libertarian socialists.[5] In a 2021 interview, one of the founders describes that the collective did not anticipate making much of a "profit with just the books, so we also sold vinyl records."[5]
The original location of the shop was in a basement at 20th and Sansom Streets.[5] An electrical fire in 1997 burned the building down, and the store moved to 5th and South Street.[5] Looking for a larger space, in October 2009 the Wooden Shoe moved into its current location at 7th and South Street.[6]
Organizational structure
The Wooden Shoe is a run by an all-volunteer, non-hierarchical collective.[7] Decisions are made by collective members by a consensus process at monthly meetings.[7] The bookstore is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission of being "an empowering resource for activism, organizing, art, self-education, community-building, and the anti-capitalist struggle."[3] As of 2022, the collective has around thirty-five people to staff the store.[8]
