Riot Act Books remains volunteer-run and fosters open dialogue through literature

Riot Act Books is Binghamton's volunteer-run, anti-profit bookstore founded in October 2020 that focuses on leftist literature and hosts community events.

Riot Act Books is a volunteer-run, anti-profit bookstore in Binghamton that opened in October 2020. The store was formed after the summer 2020 protests and takes its name from the 1714 Riot Act as a historical reference. Founders say the shop provides access to leftist literature and a public space for discussion and organizing. Volunteers staff the store and the shop directs revenue toward purchasing books and covering overhead costs. Key details: - The bookstore operates on a volunteer-focused model and founders say it could not run if it paid staff wages. - Riot Act Books identifies with anticapitalist and antifascist principles and aims to host non-sectarian discussion of those ideas. - The store co-organizes events such as the annual Upstate Anarchist Bookfair with PM Press and hosts skillshares, discussions, and vendor tables. - Its shelves include works on indigenous lives and liberation, economics and class, gender and sexuality, and politics; one recommended title mentioned is The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James. - Founders say Riot Act is currently the only bookstore operating in Binghamton and that volunteer labor helps sustain its presence. Summary: The store functions as a community hub for reading, discussion, and volunteer organizing, and its antiprofit model is tied to those goals. Undetermined at this time.