Located in the colorful Mission District of San Francisco, Modern Times Bookstore is facing a financial crisis and urgently needs an influx of cash if they are going to survive through the summer. Modern Times is, as the store put it recently, “one of the few remaining independent, collectively run, politically progressive bookstores in North America.” Besides selling books, it hosts events, has open mics and workshop and aims to be a community center and resource in the Mission District. Modern Times was founded in 1971.

The store worker-owners estimated that if everyone on its mailing list “donated $10 we would raise enough to keep going for 3 months, $20 each would keep us in business for 6 months, donations of between $30 to $100 or more would be enough for us to keep our doors open, hopefully for good.” They also suggested that members and customers who couldn’t give that much consider smaller donations, all of which “will go directly towards covering the bookstore’s costs, and are a part of a larger plan of action and structural change to make the business sustainable in the current economy.”

Among other suggestions: supporters can become sustaining or lifetime members, sponsor a shelf, promote the fundraising drive to friends and family, organize fundraisers, “pass the hat at a party,” encourage professors and teachers to buy books and have their students buy books at the store, give a Modern Times membership or gift certificate and bring friends to the store. For more information, see the Help Us page on their website.