October Books.
More than just a bookshop, we’re local, radical and eco-friendly!
All in Community Business
Our community is our lifeblood, and it’s fair to say that between buying a bank and moving our stock, to helping us keep our doors open during lockdown, that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the support of our customers and the wider October Books community. A key component of that is our local authors!
At October Books, we prioritise independence - not just in the way we think, but across every level of the business, from management, right the way down to our book ordering and selling. Indeed, in today’s context, where Amazon wages war with the everyday brick and mortar seller and where the two largest publishers in the world are set to merge (Penguin and Simon & Schuster), supporting small and independent publishers has become not only a priority, but a necessity.
We wouldn’t be here without our amazing volunteers! Learn more about what they do, and how volunteering is beneficial to organisations and the volunteers here.
In today’s post we’re going to talk about some of the other work we do in our community and how we do so in a sustainable, forward-thinking way.
At October Books, our events are designed to engage our local community and beyond, with an emphasis on creating positive conversations. The message behind the event is just as important as the event itself to us. Learn more about the kind of events we put on and the impact they have on the local community here.
Here at October Books in our journey to becoming a Community Benefit society we have been blown away by the shear number of organisations and campaigns striving to increase the numbers of, and provide support for, community businesses and this alternative to the standard business models that have made up most of our high streets for such a long time.
If you are interested in being part of an exciting new chapter of socially focussed businesses in Southampton - perhaps by volunteering, investing or perhaps looking at setting up a CBS for your business - do come along and chat to us or if you run a business, or work supporting staff, or perhaps you would be interested in our Books for Wellbeing scheme (a fantastic new service aimed at improving the wellbeing of your members or workers through positives books and the stories behind them which we are launching at the end of June.
In September, October Books will be launching our Community Shares offer. In this post, we’ll explain what Community Shares are, the benefits they have, and why you should invest in October Books and your community.
