The branches of the Occupy movement, including Occupy Boston, have been making headlines in the news for over two months now. However, one aspect of the Occupy Boston movement that has garnered little media attention is its library.
Located at the Occupy Boston headquarters in Dewey Square, the library is set up in a military tent in the middle of the movement’s encampment area. The library, run by a bookstore owner and librarians who support the Occupy cause, has over 500 books available for the protesters to check out.
The bookstore owner is John Ford, who temporarily shut down his alternative bookstore in Plymouth, Mass. to start the tent bookstore instead. Ford says having a library at the protest site helps people involved with the movement learn more about the system they are fighting against and become more educated about possible alternatives.
Along with a growing collection of books, the library also features an archive of Occupy Boston’s meeting notes and proposals, as well as an expanding program of speakers and writing workshops. For example, the famous linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky spoke to the protestors of Occupy Boston this past Saturday.
Although the Occupy Boston library is in a tent, in actuality it is not so different from Snell Library here at Northeastern. Patrons can check out books, learn more about subjects they are interested in, and converse with others. Of course, Snell Library is lucky enough to be indoors and librarians do not have to protect the books from the elements. Next time you’re curled up in a chair at Snell reading a book, be thankful that you can enjoy reading and relaxing without having to worry about the wind or rain.
To read more about Occupy Boston’s tent library, check out the NY Times article.