What is happening at Solidarity?!?!?!
The Problem: After nine years of struggling every month to pay bills and stay open, the active collective has decided that something must change. We realize that Lawrence has changed since the idea of a radical library and revolutionary center was proposed and now it seems we are duplicating resources found elsewhere in the community. There are multiple libraries in town already and the recently started Homestead Project could provide a venue for meetings and other activities. The current Solidarity collective is spending too much time fundraising and not enough time focused on radical projects.
Our Proposal: We have decided to close the library in its current form. The ECM has graciously offered to take the entire book collection and make it available to the public. A similar checkout system will be used. The Zines, copier (which is rented at a per month rate), a computer or two and the Solidarity archives will be moved to a yet-to-be-determined office space. This space will be available to community members who wish to start a public campaign or project. There will be no “hours of operation” but instead regular meeting times which we will try to make as well known as possible. Through our copier rental company we can rent a scanner and hope to digitize the Zine collection ASAP. Making it available to the public through our web site www.lawrencesolidarity.info . This will aid with literature distribution projects and help continue to keep the Zines available as a public resource. Lastly we are going to have a garage sale for the remaining Solidarity items (chairs, desks, tables, bulletin boards, mini fridge, microwave, etc). This money will go to rent at our current location as we are still working to find someone to sublet.
If you have any items that you have donated in the past which you do not want distributed in this way please come collect them. We understand that Solidarity means a lot of things to many people in this community. Therefore, if you have any questions, comments, concerns or ideas please write them down, contact us or shout them out!
Solidarity! Revolutionary Center and Radical Library
13 East 8th Street
come to Solidarity for a discussion of the organization’s past. We will be hosting a dialouge between several former and current collective members who have been around in an effort to increase people’s knowledge of the solidarity’s past and recent radical history of Lawrence. Stop on by!