Student-run library a resource for radical interests

Shirley Shangguan Staff Writer

Students who can’t seem to find that particular anarchist work by Leo Tolstoy in the Thompson Library might consider visiting the little-known Radical Literature Library in College Center 213.

The student-run lending library was founded two years ago by Jerome Ross ’04 and is under the auspices of the Student Activist Union (SAU). SAU is an organization for promoting human rights, social, political, economic and environmental justice through rallies, campaigns, and workshops.

The Radical Literature Library contains about 100 books, mostly from the 20th century. In the College Center space, which also functions as the non-traditional students’ lounge, students can find books that the main library doesn’t typically stock because the works are either too obscure or too controversial.

The Radical Literature Library offers a panoply of magazines, films and audio recordings on subjects such as environmentalism, social deviance, collectivism, feminism, radicalism, and “Do It Yourself” subcultures. One particularly unique piece in the Radical Literature Library is an analysis of Disney cartoons as an imperialist ideology. Some of the items in the Radical Literature Library have been banned in other countries.

The Radical Literature Library has a relaxed check-out and return policy. Students write down their names, the title of the work they are borrowing, and the date, and are not required to return material by any specific date.

A five-member subsidiary committee of the SAU manages the library on a rotating schedule. Each committee member compiles a list of books and shares recommendations in an informal discussion. The Radical Literature Library uses money from the SAU budget to order books every semester, and their publications are usually printed by AK Press, a large book distributor that offers the Radical Literature Library a 40 percent discount. The Radical Literature Library also makes purchases from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. The committee uses a $500 budget for purchasing and shipping, which is allocated to them by the Vassar Student Association.

Phil Chinn ’09 joined the Radical Literature Library because he “liked the idea of a student-run lending library. Anyone can help choose the books for the Library.”

The Radical Literature Library’s unconventional tomes revealed new interests to SAU member Jeanette Roach ’09. “I joined the Radical Literature Library because I like radical literature and discovering new views through reading,” said Roach.

Roach decided to become an Earth Science and Society major after becoming involved with the Radical Literature Library, and is interested in the politics of environmentalism and sustainability. Her favorite book from the library is Direct Action by Ann Hansen, which chronicles the antics of the Squamish Five. The Squamish Five was a Canadian direct action group that existed in the 1990s and bombed an electrical structure, a pornography store, and a missiles factory.

The Radical Literature Library is open Tuesdays from 12 p.m.-6 p.m., Wednesdays from 1:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Thursdays from 12 p.m.-3 p.m., and Fridays from 12 p.m.-4 p.m.