(Mon)Dragon, the Final Boss

Nestled in the heart of Central Pennsylvania, the borough of Lewisburg sits alongside the Susquehanna River. Incorporated in  1812, Lewisburg was born out of a river town and soon began to grow. With the canal being built along the banks of the river, and then the railroads coming into the picture in the late 1800s, the town became the industry town in the area. With new business come expansion of population, stores, and the newly incorporated Bucknell University, which is located just south of the borough line. As the town grew in the early 20th century, the main business district began to form along what is now called Market Street (previously Main Street). With this growth and development splurging late into the 1900s, business stretched away from the two block cluster (between 3rd and 5th street) to the full length of Market, including the current sight of Mondragon, a locally owned used book store.

With Lewisburg being a river town, there is some sever downsides, which the town has dealt with numerous times: flooding. With Bull Run creek running right through the business district and the Susquehanna to the town’s east, Lewisburg got severely damaged in both the 1936 and 1972 floods. But, with the tight knitting of the community and the hard work of everyone, Lewisburg bounced back and became even stronger for the generations to come.

When you ask someone if they’re from Lewisburg and they tell you “yes,” what they probably mean is that their parents are from Lewisburg, and so are their grandparents, and possibly their great-grandparents. They mean that this heritage, the ability to say that they are “from Lewisburg” was passed down to them, a tradition given to them by the family that came before. Most of Lewisburg is like this. It’s a place where people don’t really leave and, if they do, they come back when they’re ready to have families of their own, and pass it down to their own children.

The outside of Mondragon Books

This inheritance tradition that permeates Lewisburg has made it the perfect place for a bookstore like Mondragon. It’s similar to the way Sarajane runs her shop, allowing Mondragon to be a place of family and tradition, somewhere for the customers to feel at home. If you find a book at Mondragon (with the collection Sarajane has, it is almost guaranteed you will) it’s possible to negotiate the price with Sarajane. Volunteering at Mondragon gets you a coupon for a free book. It’s a process not dissimilar from going to your grandma’s house and coming home with whatever trinket she gave you to keep. Like that trinket, that inheritance gives the book new life. As Benjamin says, “I am not exaggerating when I say that to a true collector the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth. This is the childlike element which in a collector mingles with the element of old age. For children can accomplish the renewal…” (Benjamin, 61). Literature is brought back to life in Lewisburg through Mondragon and the way it inherits books. It adds meaning to Lewisburg as a place.

This meaning is something that Cresswell notes when he says, “This…space has a history–it meant something to some other people…Now what do you do?…You could add your own possessions…arrange a few books purposefully on the desk. Thus space is turned to place. Your place” (Cresswell 2). This acquisition of something that belonged to somebody else but now belongs to you, this inheritance, can be made your own, and thus be given new life. The people of Lewisburg, through their inheritance tradition of passing the town down to their descendants, turned the space of Lewisburg into place. Likewise, Sarajane has turned Mondragon from a space—where people can go to buy books—into a place where books are passed down. And that means that book are something that are passed down. They are something intimate, given to you by someone special, a shared experience between the two of you. An experience created by Lewisburg itself, and an experience created by Mondragon.

The modern Mondragon is not the same store as the one Charles Sackrey created and not the store that Sarajane inherited. A quick history of the space the bookstore. At first the space was a doctor’s office, the front room being the waiting room, the side room being the receptionists office, and the remaining two rooms being the examination rooms. After that, it became the headquarters for the Democratic party in Lewisburg right around the time in which Obama was running for president. After that, Charles Sackrey took over the space and created Mondragon Used Bookstore.

And now for the history of the bookstore itself. Charles Sackrey, at the time a professor at Bucknell University but later retired from teaching, opened Mondragon, naming it after the largest co-op in Spain. Sackrey taught many classes, two of which being “Classical Marxism” and “Theatre and Economics.” Charles Sackrey was known to discuss Marxist theory in depth with customers that came in. He hired his friends to work alongside him as clerks to the store. And, together, they ran the store for years to come. Until Sarajane came in and inherited the store from Charles Sackrey.

Unlike the sort of cultural adoption that took place when Charles Sackrey used the name “Mondragon” and the ideals of a socialist society to form his bookstore’s identify, the current owner, Sarajane, inherited Mondragon. Although she isn’t related to Charles Sackrey, it happened that she was available to the bookstore just as he was searching for a way to retire. His friends were all around the same age as him and therefore had no more energy or interest in actually owning the store than he did, but when he asked Sarajane, who enjoyed the store and felt she had nothing else to do at the time, she accepted the charge.

This passing-of-hands, while not normally what comes to mind with the word “inheritance,” is in line with many fictional renditions of bookselling, which push literary inheritance as a matter of culture rather than personal relationships. Lisa Morton’s short story “Blind Stamped,” for example, illustrates the way a bookseller becomes inextricably bonded to a mostly anonymous customer named Rick Herson. Although he knows nothing of the man except his name–learned from a receipt–the bookseller, Nathaniel, finds himself the sole “heir” of Rick’s book collection after he dies. So we see that literature provides more types of inheritance than the standard type written in a will. It provides, for example, the passing of a bookstore to someone with no relation to the previous owner.

Sarajane Snyder, current owner of Mondragon Books, works hard for sustainability and brings those ethics into her bookstore.

In the case of Mondragon, Sarajane’s personality and background felt in line with the bookstore’s character, and so its previous owner passed it down to her as readily as he might have passed it down to a daughter. The fact that they bear no relation obviously meant nothing to Charles Sackrey. In that moment, when it counted, they shared a deeper bond than blood. They shared a willingness to put books in new hands, passing stories and histories onto the next generations.

The store runs on used books. Their entire stock is made up of works given to the store by regulars. Some may think that this practice would lead the store to be empty or not well-rounded in it’s collection. But the store is full to the brim. Charles Sackrey gave an unkempt store to Sarajane. Sarajane fixed it all up, but the store still remains full to the brim. Benjamin made an argument on the inheritance of books and how it is the best way to create a collection. He says,

“Actually, inheritance is the soundest way of acquiring a collection. For a collector’s attitude toward his possessions stems from an owner’s feeling of responsibility toward his property. Thus it is, in the highest sense, the attitude of an heir, and the most distinguished trait of a collection will always be its transmissibility.” (Benjamin 66).

In 2009, the interior space of Mondragon was documented in low-quality YouTube video titled “Mondragon Bookstore Film.” While the title suggests videography, it appears to be a series of photos strung together to make a “film” and includes Comic Sans credits, reminiscent of the early 2000s digital space. Charles Sackrey, the original owner, is present in a few snapshots of the film, along with customers who use the space to converse and read. Snyder did not choose to continue the YouTube channel when she took over the store because this is the only video posted by Mondragon. Although that is the case, it is clear that Snyder inherited the “fiercely independent” personality of the store. In the video, certain photos were chosen to highlight the store’s core values. In one clip, there is a customer reading a book titled Idiot America. The choice in book is not accidental and demonstrates that Mondragon is a safe space to criticize politics. In another photo, there is an image of a book titled Urgent Message From Mother: Gather the Women and Save the World. This book provides a unique view that supports feminism and mirrors Snyder’s need to promote underrepresented voices. The owner said that she tries to equip the store with books written by women or by authors of color to expose readers to new ideas that are not necessarily welcomed into the hallowed shelves of corporate bookstores. Snyder inherited Sackrey’s core values for Mondragon, seen in the similarities between the book choices for the store, even though she chose to not continue the YouTube channel.

In the front hallway of the shop rests a couple of shelves filled with cheap books. These books are strategically placed outside of the main part of the store because Snyder is aware that these books are unlikely to appeal to most people. Additionally, the owner knows that people will come in during off-hours (the hallway remains unlocked) and steal books, but she is not overly concerned about it. Snyder is fully aware that the store will not be making a huge profit off of them.

Snyder’s willingness to let books go is unlike traditional means of collecting. To an extent, the bookstore is similar to a museum space because both are in the business of preserving culture. Arthur James Clifford discusses the ways in which society impacts culture in the book The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Most collectors try to tie in each item of a collection to a specific narrative that is not always accurate (Clifford 244-246). While she did inherit the books of Mondragon, Snyder realizes that each book does not necessarily have a home in the store. This is what allows her to let go of certain items and not hold onto something for its supposed intrinsic value.

Following the front hallway, the front room of Mondragon is the temporary home to a hodge-podge of items, all reflecting Snyder’s core beliefs about farming and being self-sufficient (Snyder). This is different than Sackrey’s version of Mondragon because Snyder rearranged the front room to fit her vision. While each book in the store is inherited to some extent, Snyder has recreated the visual placement of her inheritance to represent her beliefs in Mondragon.

Next, there is a side room that consists of books about travel, history, and economics. On their face value, most of these books seem boring, even Snyder mentioned that she wants to change this part of the store (Snyder). This room is reminiscent of Sackrey’s ideal bookstore because Snyder has not had the chance to rearrange the space to fit her values. There are two conflicting values in the bookstore that are able to live in partial harmony, or at least until Snyder finds the time to rearrange the store.

The Back Room which contains the Fiction, Poetry, Records, and a comfy red chair.

Opposite of the side room is the middle room. This area holds the most diverse categories of books with philosophy, spirituality, film, theatre, fine art, graphic novels, and culture. First glance of the room made me wonder, were these placed in the same room because Snyder found similarities between these books and/or their authors or were they randomly placed because this is the second biggest room in the store? The importance of this room is not about the inheritance of these books, but the inheritance of knowledge given from each book. These pieces of literature obtain significant lessons on current events and are sure to better one’s knowledge of the ever changing world around them.

Shockingly enough, the back hallway leading to the final room in the store is occupied with as many books as it can hold. This passageway to the final room is the most unsystematic room of all, for none of these books correlate to each other. However, Walter Benjamin wrote, “what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order?” (Benjamin). There are three bookshelves: one tall, one medium and one short. Each shelf is filled to capacity with literary bios, books about baseball, humor, and literary criticism. These are four very different genres of books to place together. To add onto the randomness of the hallway, a map of the world is hung proudly on the wall facing those shelves. Snyder made sure that there are absolutely no blank walls in this store. For those who love to browse book stores will be delighted to see what Snyder has in stock.

The last room in this store is the backroom. This room consists of fiction, poetry, memoirs, fantasy, and children’s stories, along with vinyls to highlight the uniqueness of Mondragon. Additionally, there are handmade vinyl coasters for sale on the shelves that give the room a very old school feel to it. In contrast to these lively upbeat records, this room happens to be the quietest of all because it’s hidden away. It is hard to imagine many customers visiting the backroom seeing that other elements of Mondragon distract from this space. However, customers would be pleasantly surprised by the peaceful 80’s vibe the room gives off.

And now, for all those who come and go through Mondragon’s double doors, a part of the bookstore carries on. After spending a semester studying it, learning to love it, and coming to appreciate where it fits into the bigger picture of bookselling, we will hold a part of it in our hearts and pass it on, in turn, to the next.

Tiger, Mondragon’s inherited cat.

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TEXTS

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations: Essays and Reflections. Edited by Harry Zohn. Translated by Hannah Arendt, Schocken Books.

Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1988.

Cresswell, Tim. Place: a Short Introduction. Blackwell Pub., 2009.

Morton, Lisa. “Blind Stamped.” Shelf Life, edited by Greg Ketter, Prime Books, 2002, pp. 131–145.

Sauers, Richard A. Images of America Lewisburg. Publishing, Arcadia. 2010

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INTERVIEWS

Snyder, Sarajane. Personal Interview. 22 February 2019.

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GRAPHICS

Photos courtesy of the Mondragon Group.

Photo of Sarajane Snyder courtesy of Mondragon Books Instagram.

Literature in Stacks at Mondragon

From the outside, Market street seems like your typical downtown business district, consisting of chains, private stores, and houses. However, not all the houses are being occupied by humans. Mondragon houses a different genre of living creature: literature! Though from the outside, it may look like a place of little action, if any at all, there are many things happening inside the front door of this store. While situated in an older house, Mondragon offers a true “home” feeling as you enter. Though the hallway leading to the door into the store is not the most pleasing, owner of the store, Sarajane Snyder, does her best to use it to her advantage with a free book table and other literature pieces. Once inside, you can see the fast number of books that have book donated, gone through, and organized to the best of what the building has to offer, not only in space, but in size.

As you walk into Mondragon, one of the many volunteers that give their time to the store will usually greet you because that’s just the type of atmosphere they create. In the very front room, they have a theme of nature, from animals to plants and natural health. I find it very cool that you can find a book at one end of the bookshelf on “How to Plant Tomatoes” and at the other end, you can find “10 Different ways to use Tomatoes in an Everyday Kitchen”. Talk about planning! Tastefully accompanying the front section are various plants, whether it be potted flowers or just greens, they give you a sense of that that room is really about.

Continuing on your trip through, you can take a “historical” walk around the world, or pick your next vacation spot in their side room. Everything in this room gave me the feeling of being in a study of a house. Hardwood furniture, the very distinct lighting, a reading desk overlooking Market Street, and the sounds of the bookstore give that room especially that feeling of being in one’s home. The best part is having a window in the wall looking into the front room with the plants and the customers, allowing you to be connected to the other parts of the store, but yet feeling like you’re in your own separate space.

As we walk straight out of this room, we find ourselves in the heart of the store. In the Middle Room, art, politics, classic literature, spirituality, and culture come together into one room with no boundaries or barriers. In an interview with Sarajane, this room is among one of the most popular, specifically the religious/spiritual section. Depending on what books come in, sometimes they done even last a day on the shelves. Another popular spot, and one of their staples of the store is the bookshelf in the middle consisting of Shakespeare. As with most of the store, and very specifically in this room, there is an abundance of books, and a limited number of spots on the shelf. So, the floor, and stacks on a tables are the next alternative. Some people might call this tacky, but in the words of Walter Benjamin, “what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order” (Benjamin).

The back room consists of mostly fictitious novels and poetry. ALong with them, there are children’s books and a blast from the past, RECORDS!

Walking out of the Middle Room and heading back the hallway, there is books lining that hallway. The highlighted ones on the map that owner Sarajane has hung in the store indicate a good amount of humor and sports, which I find ironic that they are next to each other. However, the one that is missing from this list that is also in the hallway is a whole bookshelf of music books. Some are textbooks, but others are actually books of music literature, stories of famous musicians, and musical scores. When talking with Sarajane and telling her I am a musician, she immediately went and showed me this collection that she has in the store. Though it is not well known or the popular section of the store, Sarajane expressed interest in hoping to make it grow.

The back and final room is the next popular room in the store. In here, we find mostly fiction and novels but some small known authors and some big names. on the other wall, you can find what seems to be a collection of poetry and local writings, and well as some artistic writing. One unique display that Mondragon has in the room is the use of Pennsylvania history, maps, and writings. It feels out of place in that room, but yet it feels right. It’s weird! However, the next best seller is in this room… the children’s books!

The Anatomy of a (Mon)Dragon

When you first enter Mondragon, you do not actually enter the physical store. Instead, you enter a long hallway that leads up into the apartments. The hallway is lined with books. If you remember from my last post, this is the hallway in which people take free magazines, post flyers for local events, and sometimes take the occasional book or two for reading when the store is closed. The front door to Mondragon sits among these shelves of books like the teeth to the mouth of a dragon.

 

You enter the store and enter the “Front Room” (as labelled by Sarajane). Like the hallway, it is cluttered with books. Everywhere your eye can see, there is most likely a book. Except when there’s not. When there’s not, there is art from local artists or a record player that exudes the sounds of jazz. To your right is where the worker sits, usually surrounded by books. And then in a little corner of the Front Room is a free coffee nook. You can take a mug and pour some coffee or hot water for tea and add whatever you like to make your coffee exactly the way you wish.

***

Just beyond the coffee nook is a hallway. There are three options to go down. There is the “Side Room,” the bathroom, and the “Middle Room.” You go to the Side Room and see, again, a cluttering of books and art. In front of you is a bench and table. To your left there is a hole in the wall. This bookshop used to be a doctor’s office and the Side Room used to be where the receptionists would sit. As you peruse the selection of books, you notice that they mostly deal with international history. When you start travelling on your right side, you start with US History from the beginning. As you move along, you get to the International History section. This section takes up the largest wall in this room. The next section of books you hit then is the Economics section. Before you know it, you are back in the hallway.

***

You continue into the Middle Room. As usual, this room is packed with books, more so than the rest due to the island in the middle of the room housing their Shakespeare collection. The amount of books in this room may intimidate you, so you decide to check out half of the collection of books in this room before you head on over to the room full of novels. As you do this, you see a selection of plays from various playwrights throughout history. And before you head into the hall, you stop to look at a small wall of books covering film and media.

You step into the hall and see a small bookshelf covering a miscellaneous selection of genres from sports to literary criticism to comedy.

***

You finally find the “Back Room.” The Back Room has a lot of books but surprisingly not as many as the other rooms. One and a quarter walls are covered with fiction top to bottom. Rare copies of fiction are placed at the top of the shelves to be displayed. Three quarters of another wall is a mixture of nonfiction, poetry, and literary criticism. At the end of this grouping of books, on a table by the window, sits a table with baskets of records of many genres and a variety of sizes. Looking through the fiction section, you find books that you have seen before or heard of before. You pick up the ones that have been recommended to you.

***

Leaving the Back Room, you go back down the hallway, but now from a different angle. You can see the Front Room through the cut out where the register sits.

You enter the Middle Room again, but now, the room seems less full than before. This time, you venture to the sections that you missed. You pass the LGBTQ/ Women/ Africana/ Indiginous Studies section. This section is larger than you expected; most used book stores don’t carry a section on diversity specifically. On the same wall, there are sections on Culture, Philosophy, and Art. And finally, there is a small collection of Graphic Novels. If you do not know where to look, you might miss them. This section is the smallest and in a tiny bookcase under a window. You have never heard of most of the Graphic Novels in this section. But, there are some that look really interesting to you.

***

By the time you return to the tiny hallway between the three first rooms, you realize you have finished drinking your coffee and have been done for a while. You make a stop in the bathroom to drop your mug off in the washing basket.

You then reenter the Front Room and realize you have missed so many books in this room. As a matter of fact, you have missed walls of books. When you explore, you find a section on Agriculture and Gardening, Cooking, Music Theory, and a small section on Birth/Life/Sex/Death which is mostly a tiny religious/ spiritual section. While in the Front Room, Tiger will probably snuggle up to you as you sit and look through the sections.

You buy the books you want after having a pleasant conversation with the owner about gardening and/or books and/or Tiger. Like that, you exit the store the way you came in.

***

Mondragon has a large, large, collection of books. As stated in previous posts, this collection is made up entirely of donated books from people in the surrounding area. Benjamin’s idea of a collection of books is particularly interesting, especially when analyzing Mondragon. Benjamin says, “The period, the region, the craftsmanship, the former ownership– for a true collector the whole background of an item adds up to a magic encyclopedia whose quintessence is the fate of his object.” (Benjamin 60). While Mondragon may not sell their rare books in store, every book feels rare in the way they are marketed. First, the experience of browsing allows the consumer to find treasures within the store, like the Graphic Novel section. Mondragon does not have the newest books coming out of the press, but what they do have are books with a history. In some books you can see the yellowing of the page, pen markings of certain sections, or the wear and tear on the bottom of a book from being taken on and off shelves. When a consumer shops used, they shop the history of the book. Like I said in my previous post, Mondragon feels like a shrine to books. But, along with being a shrine, it also destroys books. Sarajane categorizes and picks out books specifically to be used for craft nights in which people take apart a book and use it to create art. This art can be seen all around the store. This complicates Benjamin’s position before because, in a way, this destruction of books is a destruction of a collection. I am continually mystified by people who worship the physical object. Bookriot, a website for the modern bookworm, reported on the destruction of books in an article called, “Books Are Not Sacred Objects.” In this article they argue that books are simply an object. They quote Rachel Fehrschleiser, an editor in Big Six publishing,

“They used words like ‘sacred’ and ‘deface’ and ‘murder.’ My best guess is that these people have little experience working in a bookstore, library, or publishing house. Books are made from wood pulp. If they don’t sell, to wood pulp they return.” (Schinsky).

This goes back to an important part of Mondragon’s identity. Mondragon is a store that is conscientious to world politics and environmental conservation. With this destruction of books, they reduce, reuse, and recycle. Their stock is in a constant state of renewal. In my group’s interview with Sarajane, she told us that her office is cluttered with donated books that she simply cannot put out due to the large volume of books already in the store. This process of recycling books helps create more room in the sore, reduce waste in dumps, and still worships the book, but in a different way.

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MAP

Map courtesy of Sarajane Snyder.

IMAGES

Photos courtesy of Richard Berwind

SOURCES

Benjamin, Walter. “Illuminations.” Schocken Books: New York.

Schinsky, Rebecca J. “Books Are Not Sacred Objects.” BOOK RIOT, Riot New Media Group, 20 Aug. 2012, bookriot.com/2012/08/20/books-are-not-sacred-objects/.

Snyder, Sarajane. Personal interview. 22 February 2019.

The Heart of Mondragon

When I first walked through the door of Mondragon Books, I didn’t know where to begin. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but even if I had been, I think I still would have been temporarily stumped. It was like walking into a whole other world. The store opened up before me with a couch in the center of the first room and artwork on the opposite wall and all around me were full bookshelves that stretched all the way up to the ceiling.

I was struck by the realization that Mondragon didn’t feel like a store. There was something else going on here, something that simultaneously made me feel both endeared to this place and a bit intimidated by it.

This feeling, the one I couldn’t quite put my finger on yet, is what made me move immediately from this first room into the second one. Through something that could barely be called a hallway and on the left was a room more simplistic than the first one, with walls lined solely with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and a work bench pressed against a window. I fondly refer to this room as the “history” one, and while its shelves do house US history books, there is also a section for economics, travel, and international books. Most notably, set against the window that faces outward toward Lewisburg, is a desk encouraging people to sit down with a cup of coffee from the coffee closet and do work or relax.

The desk in the side room. Photo courtesy of mondragonbookstore Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving in to the middle room, past the tiny restroom and coffee closet, two cushy chairs could be found surrounded by, you guessed it, more incredible bookshelves. This room almost seemed to be the culture room, with books on religion, spirituality, film, and theater spread throughout. This is also the room with a phone set against the wall, like the house phone you probably had before it was swapped out for cell phones.

Walking through the store continued to feel like flowing through the heart of something. Following the hallway situated behind the checkout desk lead to what can generally be called the fiction section, but there wasn’t solely fiction. There were also books of short stories, poetry, books for kids, young adult books, and records.

I can’t help but recognize the thoughtfulness that went into putting the fiction all the way in the back of the store. Sarajane said once that Mondragon doesn’t prioritize carrying popular fiction, but it requires no stretch of the imagination to assume that a large portion of the books going out of Mondragon’s doors in the hands of customers are works of fiction. Why not show those customers what else Mondragon has to offer by giving them the opportunity to wind their way through the rest of the store, passing books on history and graphic novels, and cultural studies as they move to the fiction section in the back room? From a business standpoint, it’s a good move. Maybe someone will pick up an extra book on the way, and leave with two or three instead of just the one they came in looking for.

This, to me, was the only reminder that Mondragon was a store.

It was moving back to the first room (after, to be honest, a rather extended period of time spent browsing the shelves of the fiction section) and seeing the section tucked into the far right corner labeled Sex, Life, and Death, that I was finally able to put my finger on what it was about Mondragon that had given me that initial strange feeling.

Intimacy.

It was the intimacy of this place that made it not feel like a store. Intimacy that came through the fact that the building looked, both on the outside and the inside, like someone’s home.

Front of Mondragon

It was the intimacy of the couch in the middle of the front room, with Tiger the cat sitting in it, that invited visitors to come sit with a book or homework and exist quietly in this space.

It was the intimacy of the artwork on the walls, which Sarajane, in a later visit, explained were made by people who had visited Mondragon on one of its art nights, where people gather around the store and make art together.

I felt strange walking into Mondragon that first time because it felt like walking in to someone’s home.

Not only does Mondragon feel like someone’s home, it feels like someone’s collection. Specifically, Sarajane’s collection. While on a visit in which my group got a chance to chat with Sarajane, someone came with a box of books they wanted to donate. Sarajane explained to us that this is how Mondragon works: People donate books, and Sarajane chooses which books to keep to sell in the store and which ones to re-donate somewhere else. She joked that, sometimes, it isn’t all up to her. She has a friend who goes through the re-donate pile, and will occasionally chastise her for getting rid of a certain book. However, the understanding was that it was Sarajane’s decision at the day as to what was allowed to briefly call Mondragon home.

It makes me think of what Walter Benjamin wrote in his essay “Unpacking My Library.” He said, “For what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order” (Bejamin, 60). This seems to be what has happened at Mondragon. Sarajane has created order within these four little rooms. The next page over, he also writes, “I am not exaggerating when I say that to a true collector the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth” (Benjamin, 61). I think it is safe to assume that this is the mentality Sarajane has, given her excitement when those donated books came through the door.

Sarajane organized the books in a particular way, one example being the fiction section. But I think a more interesting example is in the fact that she put the US history section right next to the travel and international sections, almost as if she’s encouraging her customers to branch out, explore, and learn as much as they can.

In the end, I got used to the intimacy at Mondragon. I think I can even say I grew to love it, from the art on the walls, to the chairs in every room that made you want to curl up with a good book, to the tea and coffee closet and the landline on the wall. Mondragon is Sarajane’s passion project. Even if she wasn’t its founder, it is very much hers now, because she made it into what it is today. Its through Sarajane’s collection, as we browse and meander and read our hearts out, that I think we learn a bit about Sarajane, and maybe even a bit about ourselves.

 

Works Cited:

Article

Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library.” Illuminations, Schocken Books, 1969, pp. 59–67.

Map:

Created by Sarajane Snyder

Additives by Thinglink

Photos:

Photos in Thinglink courtesy of mondragonbookstore Instagram and Mac Bowers

Photo of the side room courtesy of mondragonbookstore Instagram

Photo of the front of Mondragon courtesy of Mac Bowers

 

Mondragon: Born from a Vision

When walking down Market street in Lewisburg towards the Lewisburg Hotel, a local hotspot restaurant in the downtown area, you pass many shops and stores. Within each store, you can trace its origins either from a long line of family owners or a short endever to recreate a piece of the towns history. However, Mondragon, a small and recent part of Lewisburg history, has an uncertain history that was born from a vision of a retired professor from a Lewisburg staple: Bucknell University.

The entrance of Mondragon

Though an exact date cannot be tracked down, founder and previous owner Dr. Charles Sackrey, a professor from Bucknell University established Mondragon Books in 2009. In his original plans for the store, He wanted to create an environment that people could enter the store from varied backgrounds and share in a culture to purchase used books for very little cost. Based on the ideals that all books are donated to the store, there are very little expenses when it comes to supplies to start the store.

With Mondragon opening on the east side of the downtown district on Lewisburg, the main source of competition was the newly opened chain “Barnes and Nobles” on the other side of town. With that store having direct ties to Bucknell University, Mondragon had to have a defining feature that would make them stand out from their competitor. Charles searched the community and see if there were volunteers that would be willing to help with the store, whether it was stocking books on the shelves, sitting at the desk, or helping keep the store going. Thriving on donations of books, community support, volunteers and dedication by Charles and those who helped this vision of a safe space for used books all came true. For years, Charles kept the store going, with help here and there.

In 2016, the current owner and manager of Mondragon, Sarajane Snyder, came into the narrative of Mondragon as it is today. Being a local of the area, only growing up 10 miles upstream from Lewisburg in the small town of New Columbia, Sarajane has a love for books. After recently moving back into the area, She wanted to “take on a new project”, as said in my conversation with her over a fresh cup of coffee. Sarajane became active as a volunteer in the store, and grew into being at the store on a daily basis. As Charles grew older, Sarajane was approached with the offer to consider taking over the bookstore in its daily operations, the ownership and managing everything. In sarajanes own words, she said ” Yes! I have no idea what to do, but I am up for the challenge!”

That following year, in January of 2017, Mondragon was officially taken over by Sarajane and the second leg of Mondragon began to grow. As the store began, its new journey started to take form in the same style. New changes began to take place, such as the advertisement of the store, and the way they are going to be marketing their books. Sara looked at the different genres of books and the demographics of the area and created a new style of advertisement and market place not tired yet: Amazon. Books that show value, a collection or greater series are posted on Amazon  to expand the selling market. Sara explained that between 25-30% of their business now is through the internet, as is most of the world’s attention. Another marketing tool that Sarajane harnessed was born out of her own personal experience. Since she is a book enthusiast and having a vast collection of her own, she found that she very quickly ran out of room and had to reduce the size by selling. However,  the place that she sells them would be considered a nontraditional store for books, but proven to be effective: a local consignment store. Located in an old flower mill on the other side of town, Mondragon has a book stand at local “mom and pop shop” Roller Mills Antiques. Local favorites, such as gardening, classical literature, farming and local history books are said to be the best sellers at Roller Mills.

With the store ina state of transitioning and evolving, the volunteers have become a crucial part of the store. Not only is it first and foremost a reduction in the costs of the store, they are the backbone of everything that happens. Making sure the shelves are stacked, handle donations, serve the customers, and keep records of daily attendance of customers that enter the store.

In the current state of the bookstore, Sarajane is in the process of calibrating the physical location into something new and more fitting with the evolving world world around us. Just as in the reading  “Feminist Bookstores,” by Daphne Spain, Sara is trying to create a niche for the store just as the ones in Spain’s article. With newer events going on, such as “Sci-Fi Tuesday”, where classics of that genre are discussed the last tuesday of every month, or an art gallery every thursday evening. Mondragon in beginning to take the form of a new store: not just books. Though the path changes from owner to owner, the story and ideals stay the same in Mondragon: being there to support and benefit the community through art and literature. in its many forms, Chales, Sarajane, and the numerous volunteers achieve this in all that they do!

 

Information

Snyder, Sarajane. Personal interview. 7 February 2019

Pictures

Mondragon Books (Mondragon Books)

Texts

“Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City, by Daphne Spain, 1st ed., Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 84–110. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt18kr5mx.8

Timeline

Timeline made using Time.graphics

 

A Social (Mon)Dragon

Sarajane Snyder, current owner of Mondragon Bookstore, likes to talk about gardening, which reflects the large gardening section within the many shelves of the store. Sarajane even equates her ownership of Mondragon to that of a perennial. Perennials have three stages in which they grow; they sleep, they creep, and then, they leap. She has been the owner of Mondragon since 2017, and, in her third year, she wants the store to leap.

* * *

 

Mondragon first opened on June 20th, 2009,  by a retired Bucknell University professor. Charles Sackrey, professor from 1980 to 2002, opened the bookstore along with his friends as a way to pursue a passion of his in his older age. It was with his friends that he wanted to call this bookstore “Mondragon” after a town in Spain known for being a collective. In his classes, he would teach his students about economics (as that is what he was a professor of) with a sprinkling of economic philosophy. (Bradt). Specifically, on the Bucknell website, he is listed to have taught “Classical Marxism” and “Theatre and Economics.” (“Charles Sackrey.”) This is funny because he was known to talk to his customers about Marxist philosophy all the time. But, seeing as Marxist philosophy was his main focus as a professor, we can see this seep into the way in which he ran his bookstore.

 

Mondragon’s stocks come entirely from donations, as Sarajane has told us, even from the beginning. In the beginning, the books were mostly donated from Bucknell’s English and Creative Writing departments. When Sarajane took over, she kept this model of donations, her books mostly coming from friends and customers. Because of this, any amount of money on these used books becomes profit. So, quite often, customers are able to bargain the prices of their books. Sarajane believes in the power of books and the knowledge gained when read. If it was possible, she would make the store a complete not-for-profit business. From what my research has shown, Mondragon did start as a not-for-profit business, but eventually dropped that guise and started selling books at cheaper and more affordable prices. (Bradt).

 

Marx is known for his socialist ideals of commerce, which is very different from the average American bookstore. In Jack Perry’s “Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist,” he observes the differences between the Communist bookstores of Eastern Europe and the Capitalist bookstores of America. Perry often felt disappointed in the American bookstore. In an observation about American bookstores, Perry notes that “You do not stroll through sections of classics; you march through shelves of ‘Publishers’ Special Cut-Rate Editions,’ or ‘Lavishly Illustrated Editions Marked Down’— the determining principle being price, not content.” (109). That being one instance of many. In the Eastern European bookstores, Perry observes that, “Bulgarian bookstores were popular spots, so much so that often there were long lines outside.” (107). In addition to that, he notes that the literary community would aften flock to bookstores whenever a new book was added to a bookstore, especially ones in those countries. (Perry 108). This type of literary community’s actions can be attributed to the lack of diversity in choice within bookstores; primarily, bookstores would sell propaganda of the state, Marxist and Leninist philosophies, and religious texts. (Perry 107-8). Mondragon does not follow either of these bookstore formats; instead it seems to take a note of Marx’s socialist attitudes. Since the beginning, customers have been able debate over the price of a marked book. Sometimes, books would even be unmarked just so that customers have the ability to name their own price. This practice has carried over into Sarajane’s ownership of the store. In my group’s interview with her, she told us that she believed people should be able to enjoy literature. She told us about such business practices above as well as free books, magazines, CDs, and other types of media (which I will discuss later in this post). In all, it seems as if the goal of Mondragon is to provide literature for all.

 

Now that the (for now), let’s move into talking about the second class that Charles Sackrey taught, “Theatre and Economics.” What does a bookstore have to do with theatre other than it’s section on plays (which Mondragon notes that they have a great Shakespeare section)? Well, I guess it is mostly a conversation on the performance of a bookstore to its customers and what kind of works are promoted to the community. In a lot of ways, Mondragon takes some of its ethics from Niche Bookstores. In “Feminist Bookstores,” by Daphne Spain, she talks about the ethics of niche bookstores as such. In a case study on Sisterhood Bookstore in Los Angeles, Spain notes the history of this store. I think the most interesting thing Spain delved into in her observation was the expansion Sisterhood built to their store. Spain notes, “The renovation raised the back of the store two feet higher than the rest of the store. The result was a stagelike setting for readings and book signings. Its elevation made speakers visible from the front of the store, as well as to those outside. Sabina Tubal, the author of Sarah the Priestess, thought it made the back ‘look like

Every Thursday, Mondragon holds an art night where local artists and book lovers come together to create art using books.

a shrine’ to women.” (98). Sarajane has done something similar to Mondragon. Through events and decorations to the store, Sarajane has created a shrine to local creators. The first thing one sees as they enter the store is a wall that displays art created by local artists. When delving deeper into the store, there are art projects made from and devoted to literature hung up. Merchandising created from local artists for Mondragon is displayed with pride along doorways. When asked by our group about what Sarajane wants the store to be, she told us that she wants the store to be a hub to a community that she has the ability to grow. She wants to be able to display the works of local artists. When the weather is nice, she wants to be able to let local farmers, gardeners, and florists to be able to set up outside of her shop as a sort of fair. In the middle of our group’s interview, a customer came in to pick up fresh mushrooms grown by local farmers that get delivered to Mondragon for pick up. From what we got from the interview, it seems as if Sarajane was the one that started this platform for local artists.

 

Sarajane took over Mondragon in January of 2017. But to back up a little first. Sarajane grew up in the rural areas of

In the hall, Mondragon advertises local events. In the bottom left hand corner is the sign for the free magazines.

Lewisburg. After college, she returned to the area and wanted to help out at Mondragon in her free time. Eventually, Charles Sackrey let her take on more of a management position and, finally, the store. A lot of the “employees” carried over in the shift in power from Sackrey to Sarajane. By “employees,” Sarajane explained to us that the workers there are all volunteers carried over from the prior ownership, many of them older people in their retirement age. In return, many of them get a free book from the store. In her first year, she sorted the store into the modern Mondragon we see; she organized, categorized, and curated all the used books in the store as that was her big project of the time since there were many books cluttering the area. While curating these books, she started a section of books outside the store in the hallway of the building. She told us that people tend to take the books outside the store. Sometimes, they slip money under the door, but sometimes they don’t. She doesn’t really mind this and actually encourages it with the free magazines that she sets outside the store. In her second year of owning the store, she decided to attempt to take the ethics of the the town of Mondragon by creating a collectively owned store. She told us that this was an experience that inevitably failed due to personal reasons from the other owners. But still, Mondragon stayed open under Sarajane.

Tiger, the collectively owned cat, rests among the donated books at Mondragon

There is one thing that is collectively owned that works for Mondragon, and that is the cat. Tiger, a tabby cat, used to be owned by a single mother and her young daughters in one of the apartments upstairs. This family moved out early on in Sarajane’s ownership; the only problem is that the new place they were moving did not allow animals. So, Tiger moved down into Mondragon and stays there. She is technically owned by the family, Sarajane, and all of the volunteers that work there. Tiger has become a staple to the experience of Mondragon.

* * *

In Sarajane’s first year, Mondragon slept while she reorganized it into its modern design. In her second year, Mondragon crept into existence with in-store events, merchandising, and platforming. Now, in the third year, Mondragon wants to leap.

 

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Photos

Photos courtesy of Richard Berwind

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Information

Most information used in this blog was collected through an interview with Sarajane Snyder (Sited below). All other information collected will be cited under the “Text” section.

Snyder, Sarajane. Personal interview. 22 February 2019.

______________

Texts

Bradt, Christopher. “Check Out Lewisburg’s Most Eclectic Bookstore!” Bucknell University Press, Genesis Framework, 29 Jan. 2013, upress.blogs.bucknell.edu/2013/01/29/check-out-lewisburgs-most-eclectic-bookstore/

“Charles Sackrey.” Bucknell University, 1999.

“Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City, by Daphne Spain, 1st ed., Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 84–110. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt18kr5mx.8.

Perry, Jack. “Bookstores, Capitalist and Communist.” The American Scholar, 2001, pp. 107–111.

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Timeline

Timeline made using Time.graphics

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Mondragon: Around Since Who-Knows, and May it Stay Forever

Living in a world where information is available at the tips of one’s fingers, I’m amazed at the old-age vagueness surrounding Mondragon Books. No one seems to be quite sure when it opened. Sometime in 2009, we were told, but even the year itself seems more yeah-I’m-pretty-sure-that-was-when than a date set in stone.

I arrived to the warmth of bookshop conversation. Rubbing the winter cold from my hands, I joined my teammates as quietly as possible, hating to interrupt the flow of friendly chat they already had underway with the current owner, Sarajane Snyder. Classical music played behind her on the old record player that had been silent when I first visited Mondragon Books. The atmosphere it created was everything a small-town bookstore should be—or, at least, everything a small-town bookstore claims to be in the imagination. And likewise, Sarajane seemed somehow to fit the aesthetic of the independent bookstore owner.

From her horn-rimmed glasses to her orange sweater vest, from her silk scarf to her infectiously laid-back demeanor, Sarajane matched the eclectic, hand-me-down look of the background behind her. And although she mentioned how she would like to move the bookshop to a better location—away from the noisy, sometimes odd-smelling apartment building that she worries might turn people away from Mondragon—I couldn’t help but love the air of well-worn secondhand-ness that Mondragon lived and breathed.

Before Sarajane, Mondragon was owned by its founder, Dr. Charles Sackrey, a professor of local Bucknell University. His background as a teacher of “economic principles” and the “social problems of modern capitalism” were no wonder to me after hearing Sarajane laugh fondly that Dr. Sackrey used Mondragon Books as a place to discuss Marxism with anyone who stopped long enough to listen. In this way, Dr. Sackrey created and used the bookstore as a place of discussion, debate, and self-education for its patrons. This is obviously quite different from the average corporate bookstore, such as Books-a-Million or, more notably for Mondragon, the Barnes & Noble located down the street. Retail workers are instructed to pleaserather than provoke their costumers. While Barnes & Noble will stock books on Marxism, the store itself would never take a side on it—or on any other issues, for that matter. Picking controversial ideological arguments does not a good business model make. At least, not in the eyes of the corporate world. So it’s a good thing for Dr. Sackrey that life and work mingle more freely in an independent bookstore setting—as seen with not only Mondragon, but with many of the bookstores we’ve studied, such as Sisterhood, which was created to be “a movement place… where people could sit down and have coffee, rap, or read” while learning about women’s issues (Spain).

In fact, the very name “Mondragon” comes from a community- and worker-based corporation in the Basque region of Spain. It had been founded originally in a town called Mondragon, giving it—and, later, Dr. Sackrey’s bookstore in Lewisburg, PA—its name. The corporation now describes itself on its website as “a fair, equitable and supportive proposal,” having “a business model with a difference, based on inter-company co-operation, people playing a leading role” (Ucín), and this aligns pretty perfectly with what Dr. Sakcrey managed to create. The “workers” at Mondragon Books have always, in fact, been made up mostly of friends and volunteers willing to mind the shop a while in exchange for book voucher—which Sarajane showed us but, unfortunately, did not give us.

A writing desk for costumers to make themselves at home

Although Sarajane promised us that she wouldn’t start the same Marxist spiel that her predecessor would have, she seemed more than willing to preserve Mondragon Books’s position as an active public sphere, welcoming the community around her to be a greater, more personal part of the shop than any of Barnes & Noble’s costumers could possibly be for theirs. While we were there with her, Sarajane handed out maps of the store she’d drawn herself, by hand, and printed in the back. She gave us fliers promoting Mondragon’s events and activities, including a sci-fi book club and a weekly crafting session with old book pages, and beautiful printed bookmarks with Mondragon’s name across them. Then she was interrupted by a local woman politely ducking her head in the door and saying, “Sorry to butt in on your meeting!”

Sarajane assured her it was no problem—we were all just chatting, nothing big—and then she opened the mini fridge under their coffee and tea station, retrieving a bag of fresh mushrooms for the woman, who thanked her and walked off happily with her bag. We learned that Mondragon Books doubles as a pick-up spot for Greenwood Farm’s mushroom orders. We were as impressed as we were amused by this quirky weaving of local businesses.

After that, Sarajane told us how she’d inherited the shop—and how it had been rather by accident. She’d lived in California for a while after college, working on a farm, living the lifestyle of idyllic, time-killing self-discovery that I felt a dreamy jealousy for, until she decided to trade the Californian hills back for the Pennsylvanian ones that reared her. Perhaps it was her hint-of-hippie background that called out to the Dr. Sackrey, who dreamed up Mondragon Books as a readers’ commune of sorts. Although Sarajane had never owned or even worked in bookstores prior to finding Mondragon, she very quickly found the keys being offered over to her. Dr. Sackrey had grown too old to keep it up himself, and many of his reliable volunteers had aged along with him; he needed younger blood, willing and ready to keep the bookstore going for him. And indeed, Sarajane had already proved herself more than willing to carry Mondragon’s weight. She shared her hopes of making the shop a nonprofit one day, if she can, and shot off all the many ways she already sought to improve the shop’s business: more event days, rearranging everything for better organization, offering tea and coffee, roping a printer friend into swag-creation, and adding a desk for people to sit at and write, read, hang out a while. Where Dr. Sackrey had some luxury of running the bookstore for mere fun, Sarajane clearly has a better sense of money. She’s quite possibly as “fantastical in saving and scrimping and stinting” as Frances Steloff (Rogers), although luckily, she’s also just as charitable and trusting of her community. Beside the record player, a handful of Ghirardelli chocolates sat in a dish that might have been picked up for five cents at a yard sale: the perfect image to encapsulate her co-existing desires to save and to give.

#bookfaceFriday

Thanks to things like this, Mondragon Books has persevered after Dr. Sackrey’s tenure stopped shielding it from the reality of an independent bookstore’s struggles. Now, Mondragon has survived thanks to its connection to the community. This connection can be seen all through their Facebook page, from hand-written signs reminding everyone about sci-fi book club, teasing posts about their “silly friends” dressed up for Halloween in front of the shop, requests for bubble wrap to ship their Amazon orders, and photos of people joining in their #bookfaceFriday joke.

Just as the odd volunteer worker or affectionate patron manages to patchwork their way into harmony with book covers, Mondragon had managed to sew itself into the quilt of Lewisburg—and if no one can quite pin down the date Dr. Sackrey first took the needle to the fabric, well, that only speaks to the casual sincerity of the bookstore. Like an old friend, there is no definite First Day to pin down on a calendar. But it’s there, now, and well loved by everyone who helps support it from one tomorrow to the next.

Works Cited
Texts:
Spain, Daphne. Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City. Cornell University Press, 2016.
Rogers, W. G. Wise Men Fish Here: the Story of Frances Steloff and the Gotham Book Mart. Booksellers House, 1994.
Online:
“Faculty: Charles Sackrey.” Bucknell University, www.departments.bucknell.edu/economics/faculty/sackrey.shtm.
Ucín, Iñigo. “President Message.” Web MONDRAGON Corporation, www.mondragon-corporation.com/en/about-us/president-message/.
Images are curtesy of Sarajane Snyder, taken from the Mondragon Books Facebook page
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The Makings of Mondragon

During our second site visit to Mondragon Books in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, I’m not sure what I was expecting. The idea was to talk to the current owner, Sarajane Snyder, about the history of Mondragon. And I got some of that, but only some. Mostly we talked about books. No surprise there. However, a bit of Mondragon’s history leaked into those book-ish conversations, starting with the basics at the very beginning.
When Mondragon was first founded on some undetermined date in 2009, it was by Charles Sackrey, a retired professor from Bucknell University. Clearly, this idea is one that Sackrey wanted to influence his store. The idea was simple, brought all the way down to the bare bones of bookselling: Sackrey wanted Lewisburg to have a used bookstore. It had Barnes and Noble down the street, but no one would argue that there is a distinct difference between an independently owned, used bookstore and a large chain bookstore.
I say “undetermined date” because Sarajane wasn’t able to give us exactly when the bookstore was opened, just that it was “some time in 2009.” It’s interesting that a bookstore wouldn’t keep records of something like when it was opened, but more on that later.
In the mean time, Sarajane, a local of Union County, was living in California. She moved back a few years later and, looking for something to do, began volunteering at Mondragon. Shortly thereafter, Sackrey, now in his eighties, asked Sarajane if she wanted to take over the bookstore.
The rest is history.
Outside Mondragon
But the question remains: Why no are there no detailed records stating important dates for Mondragon, like when it opened, and when Sarajane took over?
Many answers may be found in the name itself.
An important note: the name “Mondragon” comes from a town in Spain by the same name, which is home to “the largest worker cooperative in the world” (“Mondragon Cooperatives: An Alternative to Spains Economic Struggle”).
Sackery may have founded Mondragon with this very goal in mind, to create a local, used bookstore that is owned by the people who shop and volunteer there.
Sarajane told us that, when Sackery ran the store, he was never in it to make money. He was doing it because he loved book, and because he wanted to share that love of books. In this way, Charles Sackery emulated the “myth of the bookseller” in the same way that Roger from Parnassus on Wheels by Christoper Morley does. Neither is solely in the book-selling business for the money. Both have a goal to bring books to as many people as possible, simply because they love books. Though, Sackery may not take this as far as Roger in Parnassus on Wheels does. At one point in the novel, Roger goes as far as to almost “allow” certain readers to only read certain things, at least at the beginning of their relationship with books. When talking about what books he sold to one of his customers, Roger says, “Last time I was there he wanted some Shakespeare, but I wouldn’t give it to him. I didn’t think he was up to it yet” (Morely, 38). Inside Mondragon, I don’t think Sackery ever got to that level, but there are certainly parallels between the two book-sellers.
Sarajane, on the other hand, runs the bookstore a bit differently. Though, it is important to note that she, too, is attracted to the idea of Mondragon being a cooperative, however, she explained to us that creating a successful cooperative comes with its own set of unique challenges.
Apart from that, Sarajane is well aware of the fact that the bookstore needs to make money. One of the first major changes she said she made to the bookstore was rearranging all of the books. A monumental task, in and of itself, barring the fact that she did it pretty much on her own over the span of several months. She said that it was because she wanted to make the bookstore more shoppable, which meant that a large part of the rearranging was putting like books together, and clearing out books that Sarajane didn’t think would be of interest to her customers.

As another way to bring more money into the store, Sarajane (with the help of a very talented friend) made wearable merchandiser for the store last summer, during one of Lewisburg’s many events. She outlined how much work making merchandise really is, how many hours were spent creating the design and actually putting that design into shirts, which is why they are no longer for sale. However, it was a small success that summer, and Sarajane explained the excitement she feels when seeing someone wear the shirt.

 

Mondragon Books shirt
The success of the shirts led Sarajane to explore other merchandising options. Again, with the help of a friend, Mondragon now has bespoke items like cards, bookmarks, and bumper stickers. All of these are items that can either be bought separately, or with a book or two.
None of these seem like major changes, but they are a step towards a new era for Mondragon. Still, there are some remnants of Sackery within those walls, from its relaxed atmosphere to the fact that records still aren’t kept in great detail (hence the fact that it was difficult to pin down exact dates when even these small changes were made to the store).
What hasn’t changed, and likely never will, is the community aspect of Mondragon. Or, as one could even say, the cooperative aspect. As my group stood there with Sarajane, a young woman walked into the store. She spoke to Sarajane as if they knew each other, asked if she was interrupting, and then said, “I just have some books in the back of my car.”
Sarajane ushered my group out, and we carried boxes of books from the woman’s car and into the store, where we were instructed to, “just set them somewhere.” Sarajane laughed and explained that this is how Mondragon works, and that the woman who donated books was also a regular volunteer at the store. We’d just gotten a real taste of Mondragon, and had been swept up enough to unthinkingly participate.
Cooperative, indeed.
It made me think of the feminist bookstore, Sisterhood, from “Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” The article talks about how all the business done in Sisterhood is up front, saying, “Simone and Adele conducted all their business at the counter…They made a conscious decision to avoid operating in back offices, believing it to be ‘too corporate'” (Spain, 100).
All of Mondragon’s history is tied up with its name. It began with the idea of being a cooperative, founded by a retired Bucknell professor who, in many senses of the phrase, embodied “the myth of the bookseller.” As ownership moved to Sarajane, the focus shifted a bit, to being more about keeping the bookstore open, though Sarajane is quick to say that Mondragon isn’t exactly profitable. Still, a sense of community lies within this place, one that encourages book donations and volunteering, so that the bookstore is supported by the people who use it (and therefore love it) most.
Given this history, Mondragon seems to be heading back in the community direction. Sarajane briefly mentioned right before we left about the possibility of turning the bookstore into a nonprofit. Possibly moving locations eventually, just to be closer to the center of Market Street.
No matter what happens, how many changes the bookstore goes through, it all seems to be headed in the right direction. A seed was planted by Charles Sackrey in 2009, and it’s time for that flower to bloom.
Works Cited:
Timeline embedded from time.graphics
Photos courtesy of Mac Bowers
References:
“Mondragon Cooperatives: An Alternative to Spains Economic Struggle.” The Borgen Project, 15 June 2017, borgenproject.org/spains-economic-struggle/.
Texts:
Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957. Parnassus On Wheels. New York: The Modern library, 1931
“Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City, by Daphne Spain, 1st ed., Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 84–110. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt18kr5mx.8.

Mondragon Cooperative: Homesickness, Karl Marx, and the Basque Country

When I first heard the name “Mondragon,” I instantly thought of a mythical being, akin to something I would read in a story about hobbits. I quickly learned that Mondragon’s name is more meaningful than a fictional beast.

The term “Mondragon” is specific in meaning because it is the name of the world’s largest owned co-op located in Mondragon, Basque Country, Spain. Instead of relying on a capitalistic hierarchy, the Mondragon Corporation is jointly owned by the workers (Guadiana).

Mondragon Co-op Bookstore and Meeting Space was opened on June 20th, 2009 by Bucknell professor Charles Sackrey. Sackrey was a tenured professor that did not open the bookstore for financial gain but to have discussions with customers about Marxism (Snyder). As the original name suggests, the store was a meeting space filled with books. Unlike the interior now, Mondragon in its earlier state was not optimized for profit. The interior was inherently Marxist because the store emphasized the notion of wanting to be a place for bettering oneself and not a place of capitalism.

Even though the shop has ties to Spain, its history is inherently linked to Bucknell. Sackrey was able to open Mondragon because he did not intend for it to be his primary source of income. He was a tenured professor, so he was financially secure and able to explore other endeavors. Sackrey was likely looking to have more meaningful discussions beyond the classroom and wanted to find other like-minded people- or those willing to challenge him- in the Lewisburg area (Snyder). Regardless, it is impossible to separate Mondragon from Bucknell because it began as a side project by a professor.

Current owner Sarajane Snyder keeps the store open for similar purposes. In an interview, Snyder stated that she is originally from the Lewisburg area but moved away as a college student and later worked on a farm in California. While still living on the West Coast, she realized that she was homesick and decided to return to Central Pennsylvania.

At around the time Snyder moved back, Sackrey was looking to gift the Mondragon Bookstore to a new owner. Sackrey was dealing with health issues, and Snyder just so happened to be looking for a job. Sackrey first asked if those currently working at the bookstore wanted to own the shop, but no one was interested. Soon after, Snyder was named the new owner after inquiring about the position (Snyder).

 

To most business professionals, a change in ownership would be a monumental date, usually marked by some sort of celebration or grand re-opening. While that is typically the case, Snyder does not remember the exact day that she took over Mondragon. I found this to be frustrating when trying to solidify important dates. Nevertheless, the lack of commemoration surrounding this day is indicative of Mondragon’s co-op nature. Snyder did not “take-over” the business in a capitalistic sense seeing that the shop does not revolve around a traditional business hierarchy. While Snyder is “in-charge” of Mondragon, she acts more as the conductor of ideas. Snyder relies on Mondragon’s volunteers and store-visitors for business inspiration. This was made apparent when she asked us, students in a two-hundred level literature class, about ideas for her business.

Another interesting component to the change in ownership is that there was no true business plan. Snyder said that she is still trying to figure out a plan but having a successful business strategy is more of an afterthought than the actual purpose of the shop (Snyder). Mondragon is an establishment that is meant to bring together like-minded people and allow for the exchange of ideas.

Although the details surrounding the relatively-new ownership are murky, it is clear when the change of hand began. Mondragon became more active on social media by the end of 2016, clearly marking Snyder’s influence on the bookshop. Additionally, the handing down of the store resulted in an in-store revitalization- and a shortening of the store name to Mondragon Books.

Snyder remarked that the bookstore’s layout and cluttered nature is reflective of what her personal home and office space looks like. There is a general organization to the building, yet it feels busy due to the packed nature of the store. The store itself is a work of art that is constantly changing and adapting to new ideas. Snyder mentioned that she is still trying to fulfill her role as owner and learning as she goes, and the space reflects that idea (Snyder).

The connection between art and literature is not a new idea, as mentioned in the book Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling by Madge Jenison. The author describes the interior of the independent bookstore she opened with Mary Mowbray-Clarke. Jenison writes, “We had both been talking and thinking a great deal about color since the big post-impressionist show of 1915; and one theory… was that a room should be built from a full prism- that a full chord of color would make a room more alive and complete and restful than two or three contrasted notes can do” (Jenison 17).

As demonstrated by the passage, bookstores are romanticized spaces that are able to encompass the owners’ tastes and appeal to the general public. Mondragon implements this same idea because it is essentially an apartment filled with books, art, and vinyl records. It is appealing to customers because it feels like a home, yet the space is active and promising of an educational experience.

When Snyder first took on the ownership role, she had not worked in a bookstore before. Although that was the case, she did have prior experience selling books. As a young adult, her parents requested that Snyder pair down her book collection. To carry out this request, Snyder bought a stall at an antique market and began her bookselling endeavors there (Snyder).

Mondragon serves as a larger extension of this antique market stall because it is an extension of the bookstore owner. Snyder started out by selling books from her own personal collection and still relies on her intuition when it comes to sorting out books for Mondragon customers. Mondragon receives its stock through book donations, so Snyder is constantly rummaging through piles of books to determine what does and does not deserve shelf space (Snyder).

Snyder calls the store a “friend trap” because she is trying to attract like-minded people through her choice in books. Snyder encompasses the essence of the didactic bookseller image that Laura J. Miller writes about in her book Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Some consumers simply want a bookstore owner to be a sales clerk, while other consumers want to engage in conversation (Miller 62). Snyder recognizes that some consumers want to anonymously buy books, but she wants her store to be a place of discussion. Snyder encourages conversation and wants to meet people that are interested in the same subjects that she is interested in. This was evident in the short period of time that I was speaking to Snyder because she was excited to have students in the shop. Though, she did mention that she was paid for speaking at Bucknell and half-joked that she wanted to be paid for this too. Again, this comment emphasizes the bookstore contradiction of wanting to serve the public for the greater good and needing to make a profit to survive.

Through talking with Snyder, it is clear that Mondragon demonstrates the greater idea of the personal bookstore. A personal bookstore reflects the owner’s taste, which is evident in its layout and book selection. Mondragon is atypical because personal bookstores are usually named after the owner. Even though “Mondragon” is not the name of a person, it is reflective of everyone that works there because it is meant to mirror a co-op. While the bookstore is owned by Snyder, it is comprised of volunteers that impact the store just as much as she does. She jokingly added that she practically volunteers herself.

Even though Mondragon has changed a lot within the past few years under new ownership, the creation of the store is tied to Bucknell. Lewisburg is home to Central Pennsylvanian residents, but Bucknell is the main reason why Sackrey was able to open Mondragon in 2009. The bookstore may be independently owned, but its history is inherently connected and influenced by its college residents.

Many thanks to Sarajane Snyder.

Sources

Interview

Snyder, Sarajane. Personal Interview. 22 February 2019.

Images

Photos of Mondragon Books courtesy of Samantha Thompson. 

Mondragon Books. <https://www.facebook.com/MondragonBookstore>

Text

Jenison, Madge. Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1923.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Web Page

Guadiana, Marcelo. “Mondragon Cooperatives: Improving Spain’s Economic Struggle. Borgen Project, www.borgenproject.org/spains-economic-struggle. Accessed 26 February 2019.

A (Mon)Dragon’s Home

This Alleyway was built into one of the buildings.

The town of Lewisburg was cast in grey and rain the day my group went to visit Mondragon. The local businesses each provided their own versions of warmth for the average passerby; from windows brightly decorated with handmade dresses to windows advertising the lunch specials of the day, I found myself attracted to the inviting nature of each business. But, as the assignment was to simply survey the area, I quickly moved on so that I could survey more and more of Market Street. While my compatriots fawned over the different businesses that lined the streets, I found myself fascinated in between the businesses. I wanted to journey down the alleyways decorated like old Irish Faerie realms have always been depicted. Lined with stones and moss and leading to patios of homemade furniture garnished with trellises, these alleyways appeared to lead to a realm different from the one portrayed by semi-bustle of the street. My friends moved quickly while I moved slowly (whether it was because of these alleyways or

This little patio alleyway was right next to Mondragon and part of the brewery next door. Sorry for the blurriness, but you probably get the point.

my short legs, I do not know). I couldn’t help but wonder why each alleyway was decorated with such thought and care just to create the antithesis of what an alleyway is traditionally thought as.

 

Lewisburg is the small town that accompanies the local college, Bucknell University. Approximately half an hour away from my own university, Susquehanna University, the two are often compared as sister universities and/or rivals. If the rivalry were of the local towns, then Bucknell would be the clear winner. Littered with Boutiques and a generally Victorian visual aesthetic, Lewisburg presents itself as an upper middle town. The big difference between Lewisburg and Selinsgrove, at least from what caught my eye, is that Lewisburg seems to detach itself from the local college community. While there are a couple of Bucknell flags and the college’s bookstore. The town seems to want to keep its image as an upper middle class area rather than one that has its door open to the ever-changing community that colleges generally present. Lewisburg keeps its aesthetic image pristine and a place for the locals rather than the local college students.

The Lewisburg Hotel really shows this warm Victorian visual aesthetic.

 

 

Tim Cresswell in Place: An Introduction reflects on Doreen Massey’s reflection of Kilburn’s definition of place (I know, confusing right?) as one that is generally correct when talking about place as “global.” This definition is as follows (in Cresswell’s words):

 

 

  1. Place as process.
  2. Place as defined by the outside.
  3. Place as site of multiple identities and histories.
  4. A uniqueness of place defined by its interactions.

(Place: An Introduction). Lewisburg seems to be defining itself as such as well, mostly in numbers 2 and 4. The town seems more concerned about its visual and aesthetic appeal as seen by “outsiders” and how these “outsiders” view the town and the businesses interact with each other.

Two businesses side-by-side.

I can see this as being highly true about the area surrounding Mondragon Bookstore. Lewisburg seems to take care of their main marketable street (Market Street) whether it is with ice sculptures (although thoroughly melted by the unseasonably warm and wet weather earlier in the week) or maintaining the Victorian aesthetic with the local businesses. I think the main way they define themselves to “outsiders” is by trying to create a home away from home. This also lends to the uniqueness of this place. Corporate looking businesses tend to stick out in this area and they are generally reserved to more law and business based corporations (with the occasional art gallery). On the other hand, many other businesses like cafes, boutiques, hotels, and our very own Mondragon adopt homes as a place to sell their goods. Boutiques display their clothes like an in home workshop, the hotel adopts warm lighting and inviting exterior accents like a porch, and the alleyways provide seating and paths reminiscent of a slower Victorian lifestyle, where the exterior provides just as much a home as the interior.

Coffee is on at Mondragon. (Many of my group mates loved this, so we took a lot of photos).

The bookstore is commonly seen as a home, if not actually a home. Parnassus on Wheels exemplifies this sentiment of bookstores as homes. The traveling bookstore owner, Roger, has set up his store so that books cover the exterior and the interior is where he has made his home. Bookstores have commonly adopted this sentiment (rather than literally) by providing coffee to customers, carpeted floors and warm lighting for ambiance, and a generally welcoming demeanor from the owners/workers. Mondragon definitely involves all of this. With multiple rooms of books and a coffee bar, the store appears to be the embodiment of a living room.

 

This is what Lewisburg seems to be doing to their town. From the warm lights to retail selling goods out of homes, the interactions the town seems to want to happen are that of a home. I wanted to travel down one of the alleyways with a cup of coffee with some friends and sit and enjoy the beauty and care of the surrounding area. Unfortunately it was raining and the middle of winter. But, I can only imagine what it must be like in the spring when everything is in bloom.

 

Sources

Images

Photos courtesy of Richard Berwind (me).

Text

Cresswell, Tim. “Reading ‘A Global Sense of Place’.”Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2004.

Morley, Christopher. Parnassus on Wheels. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1917.