More than books

Outside the swirl of activity surrounding the Secret Sailor bookstore, a group of young people are talking, sharing a big cookie among themselves.\nOn a typical Thursday night such as this, visitors to the bookstore can walk in on a Bloomington Anarchist Black Cross meeting. Participants sit in a circle on old chairs and a beat-up couch. Some are petting John Henry Tofu, a fat black cat with white paws and facial markings. The counter is littered with stickers promoting various bands. The walls are covered in posters, some of them homemade.\nThe Sailor, 202 N. Walnut St., is a hub for activism of many different ideological stripes throughout the community. It also caters to the literary tastes of anarchists and others non-mainstream political beliefs. \nThe Anarchist Black Cross is one such group that meets at the Sailor. It might bear an intimidating name, but that night's agenda was centered around putting on a benefit concert for jailed environmental activist Josh Harper and what they call "guerrilla gardening" -- planting flowers and shrubs in public areas that need greening up. \nAt the back of the store, Pages to Prisoners, a group devoted to providing inmates with books was holding another meeting.\nSam Dorsett, one of the store's co-founders, said he has noticed people are glad the Sailor exists; that there's a place besides Borders and other bookstore chains; that it's a more open atmosphere for discussion of different ideas.\nSince its opening last February, he said the store has been open to meetings for various activist organizations. He said the store forms an important link in the chain of anarchist communities across the country.\nDorsett, 25, and his friends had such good experiences buying materials from alternative book sellers and selling them on their own that they decided to open the Sailor.\nSeveral months after opening, they decided the store should be collectivized. The Sailor is now a worker-owned cooperative and members of the collective are not paid for the hours they spend at the store. Workers set their own schedules for the week. It was understaffed and Dorsett said collectivization was the ethical way to run such an enterprise. \nAn unnamed donor pays for most of the Sailor's rent, said collective worker Rebecca Rakstad. Sometimes there is an occasional benefit show to help pay for the overhead. Most proceeds from the many concerts and benefits organized by the Sailor go to some of the organizations to which they play host.\nSince the summer, the Sailor has played host to politically oriented local bands. Ian Phillips, one of the members of the collective, said the store plays host to mostly punk bands, but soon it hopes to bring in hip-hop acts and bands from other genres.\nMarybeth Legler, a sophomore and patron of the store, said she feels at ease there, even though she wouldn't label herself as an anarchist. She was introduced to the Sailor by some friends who attended Anarchist Black Cross meetings. She stopped by one day to buy a book and spent a long time sitting back and reading.\n"I really liked the vibe and I just sat there and chilled," Legler said.\nWhat's the name of the store all about? \nDorsett said that's a secret. A few collective workers could only speculate that the store's founders had a thing with pirates. A handmade red-and-blue sign hangs near the door. Its crooked letters spell, "Loose lips sink ships."\nThe Sailor popped into the media spotlight recently. Prominent local environmental activist Frank Ambrose was arrested Jan. 25 while working at the store for allegedly spiking trees on public land. The Secret Sailor collective has supported efforts to help Ambrose since then. A flier distributed by local environmental group Bloomington Defense Committee and distributed at the Sailor read, "Frank (Ambrose) has done nothing more than be vocal and be willing to put his body on the line to stop a logging program." \nThe members of the Sailor's collective might be vocal about Ambrose's arrest, but some said people have misconceptions about who anarchists are and what they do. In fact, not all of the members consider themselves anarchists, said Ryan Davis, who works at the store and is an Anarchist Black Cross member.\n"We want to work to make the community better," he said. "We're not out to hurt people."\nThe Sailor sits in between a Blimpie sub shop and the Princess Restaurant. Some of the collective members occasionally duck into Blimpie for some pop or to use the bathroom, said Jamie Chevillet, a sandwich maker there. She described them as nice, quiet people, though she said she did not know what the Sailor was.\nDavid Woken, collective worker and history graduate student, said a lot of the other graduate students he works with do not know how to respond when he mentions his work at the Sailor.\n"Some have never heard of the place, but they seem impressed by the idea of a collective bookstore," Woken said.\nNovelty aside, the collective wants to create a forum.\n"We want to build a safe space where people can put forth their ideas," collective member Frank Cappo said.\nA large banner pinned on a wall opposite the Sailor's counter stated the recently drafted conduct code for any groups or bands that wish to use the space. The code prohibits destructive action against the store, language or behavior that is racist or sexist and behavior meant to hurt others. Cappo said the Sailor is a place where people will not be ridiculed for their ideas. \nThe Sailor is more than a bookstore. The members are also geared toward helping both local activists and the surrounding community. \n"That place has a lot of momentum for social change; it makes me want to get off my ass and change things," Legler said. \nThe selection of books at the Sailor is sparse, but subjects include feminist issues, labor, anarchism, socialism, race and general fiction. They also have a large selection of magazines from all over the country and music from many independent bands. Few of the materials bear price tags. Instead, donations are accepted. \nBooks and magazines are not the only ways the Sailor educates. In the back of the store, a box full of free rubber gloves sits on a wooden table as part of a safe sex display. Taped onto it are instructions for making a dental dam out of the gloves. A small illustrated book on safer sex is next to the display.\nEducation is just one of the ways the Sailor contributes to the community.\n"We want to be a part of the community and whatever money we get, we put back into the community," Phillips said. "We want to build community, not commodities."\nThe collective wants to spark an interest, so Davis said the Sailor is also starting a "free school." Members run classes on topics such as environmentalism and philosophy and lighter fare including sewing, skateboarding and playing the guitar. Davis said it might help expose people to new ideas. For instance, someone might come in for a class on skateboarding and happen to pick up a book on politics. \n"It's a really comfortable environment. I never get the impression that they're cliquey or anything," Legler said. \nBut not every experience with the store has been positive. Dorsett said people have criticized the Sailor before -- sometimes about smaller things such as the store looking disorganized, other times about larger issues such as people believing they are all communists. He recalled one night last November when one of the store's windows was smashed. \nCappo was there after it happened. He said someone had picked up one of the bricks around a tree in front of the store and shattered the window closest to the counter with it.\n"We were disappointed because we didn't think it was motivated by anything but drunk people being silly," he said. "If people learned about the Sailor, they would see that it's a community center. It can be their store, too"