Volunteering

We are always excited about having new people come and join us. This section gives you some information about how you can get involved in the project.

Collective Members

Most members of the collective work a 3-hour shift once a week, others take on some task (such as bookkeeping, book ordering, events coordinator, volunteer coordinator, and more), and some members do both. Most of our decisions regarding the store are made at our steering meetings, which happen twice a month. You can read more in our section on the collective.

Training

The following is an overview of the training process, if you wish to become involved.

The first part consists of going to four 3-hour shifts with a designated trainer. Most of the collective members are trainers. Shifts run from 12-3, 3-6, and 6-9. During these trainings, the collective member will acquaint you with the store, our politics and our policies, as well as teach you how to work the register, take sales, and keep the store tidy. We recommend, but do not require, that you train during both an opening and closing shift so that you are at least familiar with opening the store for business, and counting down the register and locking up at night.

After you have completed four trainings, you must then complete four 3-hour double-shifts. These are like the trainings, except that you may do them during any shift with any of the collective members. During these double-shifts, you essentially do the shift yourself with a collective member present in case you have any problems.

At some point in the process, we ask that you send an introductory message to our email listserv. This is a way to present yourself to collective members who do not get a chance to meet you during your trainings or double-shifts. Likewise, it is recommended that you train/double-shift with as many different collective members as you can, so that you become well known to us. Both of these things help us in making a decision to vote you in.

Finally, we also require that you attend at least one steering meeting before completing your trainings. And if you do join the collective, then you must also attend an annual mandatory meeting held at the bookstore (sort of an annual state of the union). We also encourage you to attend our annual retreat, usually held a short distance from Boston on a weekend in August or September.

To review:

• 4 trainings
• 4 double-shifts
• 1 letter of introduction
• 1 steering meeting
• 1 mandatory meeting
• and maybe 1 weekend retreat

Well, that's the bulk of it. We would really like to hear from you, so please get in contact if you are interested in joining. If you like the policy and are interested, the next step is to call the bookstore and tell us that you would like to set up your first training shift, which anyone can schedule during the many shifts that are staffed by trainers. If you have other questions, feel free to contact us.