Boulder's Left Hand Books, 'beacon of progressive thought,' closing after 34 years

[Rick Kissell]

 

http://www.dailycamera.com/business/ci_22489582/boulders-left-hand-books-closing-after-34-years

Boulder's Left Hand Books, 'beacon of progressive thought,' closing
after 34 years
By Alex Burness, Camera Staff Writer
Posted: 01/31/2013 09:44:37 AM MST
Updated: 01/31/2013 09:38:22 PM MST

Starting this spring, Boulder residents will have to find a new place
to get their fill of Marxist literature and "Kill Your Television"
bumper stickers.

Left Hand Book Collective, a volunteer-run and explicitly socialist
Pearl Street staple, announced it will shut down April 15 after 34
years of business. The closure is another blow to the city's
already-dwindling list of bookstores.

The underground store at 1200 Pearl St. has long been a source for
progressive literature, periodicals and films. It also hosts monthly
meetings of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Despite a devoted leftist customer base, which has often included
University of Colorado professors, Left Hand was forced to surrender
to the convenience of the Internet vendors and the proliferation of
e-readers.

"It's a very sad time," said Louise Knapp, 66, who was one of Left
Hand's first volunteers. "There aren't many voices out there that
really speak to the kinds of concerns that we have and the kind of
literature we offer. It's sad that we're unable to sustain that. The
world of books is just changing."

The industry is indeed in crisis mode, as large chains and independent
booksellers alike are watching profits fall every year. Boulder
bookstores have closed their doors in recent years, including High
Crimes, Troubadour and Happenstance. Eads News & Smoke Shop shut down
earlier this year after more than a century in Boulder.

Barnes & Noble, long a scapegoat for the demise of independent
booksellers, announced this week plans to close about 20 stores a year
over the next decade.

"Bookstores are closing all over, and this is a marginal bookstore in
the first place," said Gene Rodriguez, 79, a Left Hand volunteer since
1991. "So we don't have a lot of leeway."

Seth Rowland, former owner of Happenstance and the soon-to-be owner of
Pearl Street's Red Letter Secondhand Books, worries that Boulder
bookstore closures signify the city's loss of personality.

"I think it's stores like these that add soul to a town," the
33-year-old said. "If it's nothing but Bed Bath & Beyond, then we're
all going to be dressing the same and thinking the same. (Boulder)
needs that diversity."

Knapp, who in 2008 had to shut down the 10th Street location of
feminist bookstore Word is Out, said the city has drifted from the
"out-of-the-mainstream" ideals with which many people identify it. The
looming end of Left Hand, she said, is symbolic of that phenomenon.

"Left Hand has stood as a statement of ... the kind of progressive
thinking that Boulder is known for," Knapp said, adding that the city
"has probably strayed away from its roots of being a town full of
alternative and interesting people."

A lack of young volunteers willing to make long-term commitments to
running the store contributed largely to the decision to close Left
Hand, which now relies on just six main staffers.

The store has also lost most of the business it once got from CU. For
years, Left Hand relied on textbook sales for much of its revenue, but
Rodriguez said that has changed dramatically.

"The university has put a lot of pressure on professors to order books
only through the CU Book Store," he said. "They resented the fact that
we were selling (textbooks). They had spies coming down to see which
professors were ordering books through us."

Beginning Friday, Left Hand will have a storewide sale. Its devotees
will convene in the coming weeks to determine how to allocate leftover
funds and where to send unsold inventory, which stores like Red Letter
and Boulder Book Store are primed to inherit.

Though many of the shop's books will find new homes on the shelves of
other stores, its lively, liberal environment seems virtually
irreplaceable.

"Left Hand has really been a beacon of progressive thought in Boulder
for over 30 years," Knapp said. "It's just very sad to know that now
it's not really sustainable."