Internationalist Books and Community Center, located in

Carrboro, North Carolina Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 census. was a volunteer operated infoshop, non-profit

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

, and

community center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

for local activists. The store name was a reference to the political philosophy of internationalism. Often, the center was called "The Internationalist" or merely "Eye Books" by its volunteers, members, and supporters. Internationalist Books sold new and used books, alternative magazines, local and

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

materials,

Fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

/ zines, and sidelines. Since its founding, the Internationalist grew into a center of activism, political discussion, creative grassroots organizing, and a space which brought together people of all ages, sexual orientation, ethnic background, political beliefs and gender identity. It closed in September of 2016. Internationalist Books and Community Center in Chapel Hill

Internationalist Books and Community Center in Chapel Hill

History

Bob Sheldon

Bob Sheldon founded Internationalist Books in 1981. Opened as a small reading room above a bar on Henderson Street near the campus of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, Sheldon aimed at providing alternative information during the anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

movement in the 80s as well as a place to share

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

literature. When the bookstore was opened, Sheldon described the store's mission as follows:

We are dedicated to the position that we have no country: we do not support mindless patriotic pleas for 'national unity,' nor are we interested in keeping America number one. We support the unity and liberation of oppressed people worldwide and are working toward the day when all oppression and inequality will be removed from the earth.

To support his project, Sheldon held jobs in various capacities throughout North Carolina. In the 1970s Sheldon worked at the Cone Mills-Eno textile plant in an attempt to organize workers into a union. He was fired for disseminating pro-union materials while on the floor of the plant. In the 1980s, Sheldon was employed as a nurse. In the late 1980s, Internationalist Books became a successful enough enterprise, such that Sheldon was able to quit his "day jobs" to focus on managing the bookstore. In 1986, the Internationalist became the center for organizing opposition to the Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant. In January 1991, the Internationalist organized opposition to the Gulf War, with Sheldon making appearances on

WRAL-TV WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...

to speak against the war. On February 21, 1991, Bob Sheldon was shot and killed as he was closing the store for the evening. The Chapel Hill Police Department began a brief investigation, first focusing its efforts on friends and loved ones, later turning the focus on the theory that the murder was the result of a botched robbery. The investigation stalled when no clear suspects could be identified nor any physical evidence could be collected. No arrests were ever made and the murderer still remains at large and the case remains open. (The band

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

later recorded a song about the murder, "Chapel Hill," on their 1992 album '' Dirty''.)

Collective

Following the death of the bookstore's founder, with an outpouring of support from the community, the Internationalist reopened as a nonprofit

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

with a volunteer/membership structure. Since 1991, the Internationalist has carried on the work begun by Bob Sheldon by hosting social justice workshops, meetings, campaigns, conferences, and providing facilities and resources to a diverse range of grassroots organizations. The Internationalist moved to 405 West Franklin Street in 1995. In 1997, the Internationalist headed efforts to organize a Housekeepers Association at the University of North Carolina to better the working conditions and wages of non-academic employees of the University. In 2000, the Internationalist Books was awarded the

Independent Weekly ''Indy Week'', formerly known as the ''Independent Weekly'' and originally the ''North Carolina Independent'', is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and distributed throughout the Res ...

's Citizen Award for their work as a progressive community organization. In 2006, the Internationalist celebrated its 25th anniversary with special events, a commemorative ceremony in which Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy declared February 21 "Bob Sheldon Day", and by publishing a book which compiled a collection of 25 local hidden histories.

Relocations

Originally located on Rosemary Street in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

, the center stayed in the town moving to West Franklin Street in 1994. In September 2014, it relocated again to a building with more space on Lloyd Street in Carrboro.

Volunteers

In its last incarnation, over thirty regular volunteers, two volunteer managers, and a six-member Board of Directors handled the day-to-day operation of Internationalist Books and Community Center. The volunteers' main responsibilities included staffing the bookstore, handling the daily customer sales and upkeep of the store, bookkeeping, book ordering, staffing/schedule coordinator, book tabling at local events, coordinating events in-store, newsletters, fundraising, and much more. Grammy-nominated recording artist

Tift Merritt Tift may refer to: Places * Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States People with the given name * Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter People with the surname * Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portr ...

was once a volunteer of the Internationalist.

Projects/Events

Volunteers were involved in a number of projects which operate from the Internationalist. The bookstore was the headquarters for the Internationalist Prison Books Collective, a prisoner support group serving inmates throughout the Southeastern United States. The Internationalist was formerly the headquarters for North Carolina Indymedia. The bookstore housed a radical lending library. The Internationalist also served as the hub for anti-war organizing throughout the Triangle, including having sent busloads of protesters to Washington, D.C. The center sponsors the annual Carrboro Book Fair, the "Against the Grain" series, the Desert City Poetry Series, and the annual Bob Sheldon Award. In addition, the bookstore frequently played host to a number of readings and events by authors and artists such as

Inga Muscio Inga Muscio (born c. 1966) is an American feminist, writer and public speaker. Her books include '' Cunt: A Declaration of Independence'' (1998) and '' Rose: Love in Violent Times'' (2010). Work Muscio's book, '' Cunt: A Declaration of Indepe ...

, Michelle Tea,

Timothy Tyson Timothy B. Tyson (born 1959) is an American writer and historian who specializes in the issues of culture, religion, and race associated with the Civil Rights Movement. He is a senior research scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duk ...

, and

Reverend Billy Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping is a radical performance community based in New York City. The Stop Shopping Choir is accompanied by a comic preacher, Reverend Billy, portrayed by performer William (Billy) Talen. The philosophy of ...

of the Church of Stop Shopping. The center also hosted a twice-monthly

Trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...

Discussion Group sponsored by the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition.

References

External links

Internationalist Books and Community Center records
Rubenstein Library, Duke University
Bob Sheldon Papers
Rubenstein Library, Duke University
Rabble Rousers
''Independent Weekly'' November 22, 2000
Internationalist Books Provides Base For Change
'' The Daily Tar Heel'' February 20, 2003
Internationalist Books auctions cakes
''The Daily Tar Heel'' November 3, 2006
Sheldon Legacy Persists After 15 Years
'' The Daily Tar Heel'' February 21, 2006 {{coord, 35.9110, -79.0606, region:US-NC_type:landmark, display=title Companies based in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina Independent bookstores of the United States Infoshops Libraries in North Carolina 1981 establishments in North Carolina 2016 disestablishments in North Carolina