Does Pike Place leave you visibly disoriented in the background of an unknown tourist’s family photo, standing in a cluster of multicolored pigeons with a fresh fish in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other? Do you find that while you instinctively look to Barnes and Noble for comfort, your heart yearns for a more diverse selection from a local business? Have you ever found yourself eyeing anarchist zines, speaking about mutual aid in your area or pondering how you can involve yourself in your local radical community? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Left Bank Books is the place for you. 

Left Bank Books has been a fixture of Pike Place Market since its founding in 1973. The store has always been collectively owned and operated by its workers, with a team of six paid employees and 20 volunteers. Decisions are made by all workers through discussion at bi-monthly meetings.

Hal Wolfsword, a paid worker at Left Bank, appreciates the collaborative nature of the collective, particularly when it comes to how books are selected to be stocked.

“I love that almost everyone here gets a hand in ordering books… I feel like our selection really highlights that there’s a lot of people here involved, and so we definitely have a more eclectic and weird [selection],” Wolfsword said. “I’m sitting next to the weird shit section.”

Left Bank is known for the wide range of books available in store, particularly those highlighting issues pertaining to marginalized groups and books written by local authors. From a comic zine detailing the history of street sweeps in Seattle, to an analysis and mediation on Latinx identity in America, to a look at online polarization and conspiracy theories in the current political climate, Left Bank works to keep their selection diverse and exciting. 

Customer Karina Dominguez was especially excited about the Left Bank’s unique collection.

“Now that I work at an independent bookstore in Bremerton, I like to go to other bookstores to see the things they’re doing differently,” Dominguez said. “[Left Bank] has a really large variety of translated fiction and also studies from different pictures, like I was looking at the Latin American Studies section because that’s something that interests me since it’s part of my culture.” 

From 1980 to 2001, Left Bank even provided a mail-order distribution service that provided radical and alternative literature, zines, magazines and pamphlets to independent bookstores, organizations and individuals. At the time, Left Bank offered one of the largest selections of anarchist literature in the world, and shipped internationally. This project is no longer active due to the growing presence of large corporate bookstores and online bookselling, as well as the increasing cost of operating in Seattle. Titles in stock at the store can be viewed online.

Additionally, Left Bank sponsors the Books to Prisoners program, a Seattle-based nonprofit that mails free books to people in prison. The program receives about 700 requests for specific books every month and aims to send one to three books to each incarcerated person they receive a request from. 

The central location allows for Left Bank to operate as both a bookstore and an event space. The store hosts book talks with a variety of authors, focusing on everything from cookbooks to photography collections to children’s books. They also host an open mic on the last Thursday of each month that specifically centers queer and trans artists of color, and regularly hold events providing information and discussing political, social and economic issues. 

Stephanie Wong, a volunteer at Left Bank, appreciates the support the store receives from the local community.

“I feel like every shift somebody comes in and is like, ‘thank you all for existing as a space for radical literature.’ That’s just pretty cool that people find it to be a safe space for that, and that we are known to carry that type of work,” Wong said.

Both Wolfsword and Wong encouraged anyone interested to become involved with the store. 

“[We] always want new faces in the space,” Wolfsword said. “If people want to volunteer or find out other ways that they can get involved with doing events and things like that, [they] totally should do that.” 

To learn more about Left Bank, visit their website. To contact Left Bank, email [email protected].