Bound Together

Bound Together

Company type	Volunteer collective
Industry	Bookstore
Founded	1976
Founder	Richard Tetenbaum, Ron Wheeler
Headquarters	San Francisco , United States
Products	New and secondhand books, local authors' works

Overview

Bound Together is an anarchist bookstore and cultural landmark located on Haight Street within San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. Recognized in a 2016 review by Lonely Planet for its diverse range of activities, the store was praised for its dynamic engagement, humorously suggesting it outpaces government workers. The shop offers both new and secondhand books, featuring works by local authors as well.

Operations and Community Involvement

Managed by a volunteer collective, Bound Together includes dedicated members who have consistently staffed the store for many years. In 1996, the collective organized the inaugural Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair to mark the bookstore’s twentieth anniversary. Since the early 1980s, Bound Together has supported incarcerated individuals through the Prisoners' Literature Project, initially created to serve gay prisoners but later expanded to assist all inmates impacted by increased drug-related incarcerations.

Visual Identity and Atmosphere

An exterior mural titled Anarchists of the Americas, originally painted in the 1990s by Susan Greene and periodically refreshed, portrays notable American anarchists such as Voltairine de Cleyre, Emma Goldman, and Sacco and Vanzetti, alongside a depiction of a collective member’s cats. Inside, the bookstore is adorned with vintage posters, and volunteers sometimes display chalkboard signs bearing slogans during their shifts.

History and Location

Established in 1976 as "Bound Together Bookstore" in a former drugstore at Hayes and Ashbury Streets by founders including Richard Tetenbaum and Ron Wheeler, the bookstore relocated in 1983 to Haight Street. At that time, it adopted its current name: "Bound Together: An Anarchist Collective Bookstore." The collective has faced significant financial challenges over the years; for example, rent costs rose twelvefold between 1983 and 2004. Bound Together is also featured among the independent bookstores highlighted on the San Francisco Chronicle’s 49-Mile Scenic Route.

External links

• Error creating thumbnail: Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website