Our Move to a Community Benefit Society

We are in the process of changing October Books from a multi stakeholder Co-op into a Community Benefit society. We moved from a Workers co-op to a multi-stakeholder Co-op just prior to our move to the bank building and this allowed us to open up our membership to our community. To ensure the future of October Books and ensure that we benefit and provide for the local community the best we can, we believe this is the best move for the business. We can ensure everyone that Co-op values and principles are very much at the forefront of the store and will remain to be so and this will be written into our new constitution and rules. For more information about this move we have developed the following FAQ with feedback and input from all our members and team. If you have any questions that are not answered in the below please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will get back to you shortly.

If you are interested in the process of how we got to this point there are some answers FAQs below. Alternatively you can email us and request a link to the video of our October 2021 Members Meeting or we can arrange a time to speak to you about the process info@octoberbooks.org

October Books is a radical bookshop and Community Benefit Society, run as by co-operative principles, by and for it’s community. Investor members have a say in what we do and how we do it, and can be involved in directing the business, influencing both the goods and services we provide, and our ethical purchasing policies.

Membership from our customers and community means that October Books is able to truly reflect the needs and wants of the community it seeks to serve. If you want to have a say in your community - and meet others who do, too - this is an opportunity to do so.

Meetings are held four times a year in the shop, Community Space or online and are a great way to get to know your fellow Members, as well as support and direct our work.

Investment membership details will be available soon when our share offer launches on the 1st October 2022

Please sign up to our mailing list at the bottom page to keep up to date with the upcoming share offer

Join our Committee!

October Books has seen some incredible changes over the last few years and we continue to be encouraged and amazed at the support from our local community, particularly in light of the ongoing covid19 health crisis.

The move to our new premises has come with increased responsibility for the existing governance team and we are now accountable to you our members and our investors. We would like to ask you, our members, if you would like to be more involved in this aspect of our community business. On the link below is a summary of the roles and responsibilities of the governing body or committee, followed by details of specific committee roles we would like to advertise. 

The below may sound wordy and in legalese and certainly the role should not be taken lightly and does bear significant responsibility. We feel though, that if this responsibility is shared in a truly collaborative and co-operative way between committee members, the role then also has the benefit of allowing your creativity and knowledge to shine.