The Cooperative Library

Seeking a New Home

David J. Thompson has collected thousands of books over the course of a lifetime regarding co-ops, their history, and ways to bring worker and member owned businesses into the future. The library features over 4,000 unique perspectives dating from 1860 to the current day. It contains books hailing from the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, and many others across the world. At 84 years old, David is now seeking to find a new home for his vast collection. He envisions seeing it installed with a cooperative entity, or one which serves cooperatives.

A vintage book titled 'ECCLES PROVIDENT INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED,' celebrating a jubilee in July 1907, with the date 1857 and decorative engravings on the cover.
A vintage book titled 'ECCLES PROVIDENT INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED,' celebrating a jubilee in July 1907, with the date 1857 and decorative engravings on the cover.
A bookshelf with a row of vintage hardcover books in various colors, including green, blue, red, and beige, on topics related to co-operatives and history.
A bookshelf with a row of vintage hardcover books in various colors, including green, blue, red, and beige, on topics related to co-operatives and history.
A red hardcover book titled 'Leigh Friendly Cooperative Society Limited' with a crest on the cover, commemorating its jubilee history from 1857 to 1907, placed on a dark, textured surface.
A red hardcover book titled 'Leigh Friendly Cooperative Society Limited' with a crest on the cover, commemorating its jubilee history from 1857 to 1907, placed on a dark, textured surface.
A room with tall white bookshelves filled with a variety of books. There are decorative items on the shelves, including ceramic pitchers, plates, and stuffed animals. A table with a lamp and a stack of books is visible in the foreground, along with a floral patterned armchair.
A room with tall white bookshelves filled with a variety of books. There are decorative items on the shelves, including ceramic pitchers, plates, and stuffed animals. A table with a lamp and a stack of books is visible in the foreground, along with a floral patterned armchair.
A hardcover book titled 'History of Co-operation in Accrington' with gold text and a small emblem of a ship in the center of the cover.
A hardcover book titled 'History of Co-operation in Accrington' with gold text and a small emblem of a ship in the center of the cover.

Highlighted Items from the Collection

  • Basque Cooperativism book cover

    Basque Cooperativism

    BALEREN BAKAIKOA, ENEKA ALBIZU

    An analysis of cooperatives in the Basque region, particularly of Mondragon.

  • A book titled "The Growth of Italian Cooperatives" by Piero Ammirato, with a green and white abstract line pattern on the cover, placed on a wooden surface.

    The Growth of Italian Cooperatives

    PIERO AMMIRATO

    An analysis if Italian Cooperatives and how they have managed to remain a viable alternative to for profit corporations even through financial crisis.

  • Book cover for 'Grocery Story' featuring a shopping cart filled with fruits, vegetables, seafood, and beverages.

    Grocery Story

    JON STEINMAN

    A dive into food co-ops and their place in local economies and food supply for communities.

  • El Movimento Cooperativo en Euskadi

    El Movimento Cooperativo en Euskadi

    LEYRE ARRIETA, MIREN BARANDIARAN, ALAZNE MUJIKA, JOSE ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ RANZ

    The history of dynamic cooperative movements in the Basque Country during 1884-1936.

  • Friendly Takeover Book Cover

    Friendly Takeover

    JAMES B LIEBER

    The story of how an employee buyout saved Wierton Steel from becoming another casualty of changing industries, and how the company was run for both employee and management.

  • Book cover titled 'La cooperazione di consumo in Italia', with a black and white graphic of people in helmets forming a spiral pattern, and publisher logos 'Coop' and 'Il Mulino'.

    La cooperazione di consumo in Italia

    VERA ZAMAGINI, PATRIZIA BATTILANI, ANTONIO CASALI

    Historic accounts of the 150 years of consumer cooperatives in Italy, from where they began, through the difficulties of Facism, and how they were able to maintain the core values of providing for consumers.

  • What happened to the Berkely Co-op? Japanese book cover

    What happened to the Berkely Co-op?

    THE JAPANESE CONSUMERS COOPERATIVE UNION INTERNATIONAL DEPT.

    An analysis of the largest consumers cooperative supermarket in the United States, and how it came to collapse.

  • Book cover titled "Beautiful Solutions: A Toolbox for Liberation" with a red abstract background featuring silhouettes of people and various objects, and edited by multiple authors.

    Beutiful Solutions

    ELANDRIA WILLIAMS, RACHEL PLATTUS, ELI FEGHALI, NATHAN SCHNEIDER

    A collection of grassroots solutions for societal and economic progress featuring topics including energy democratization, and food sovereignty.

  • Book cover titled 'Local Dollars, Local Sense' by Michael Shuman with a foreword by Peter Buffett. The cover features a cartoon-style illustration of a man pointing at a swirl of dollar bills and small houses, with emphasis on shifting money from wall street to main street and achieving prosperity. The bottom text mentions it is a community resilience guide.

    Local Dollars, Local Sense

    MICHAEL SHUMAN

    A guide for how to use investment funds which could be diverted into Wall Street, to instead build stronger communites.

  • Book cover with title "Cooperative Commonwealth: Co-ops in Rural Minnesota, 1859-1939" by Steven J. Keillor. The cover features a vintage painting of buildings and cars on a city street.

    Cooperative Commonwealth

    STEVEN J KEILLOR

    How rural Minnesotans used democracy and cooperation to gain control of their local economies.

  • Co-operative Principles

    POSTER FEATURING ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND AMERICAN ICONOGRAPHY

    One of the countless cooperative items that David J. Thompson collected which depicts cooperative principles from a uniquely American perspective.

  • Historic proclamation of the City of Los Angeles, California, with colorful decorative borders, illustrations of city landmarks, and state symbols.

    Co-op Month Proclamation

    CITY OF LOS ANGELES SIGNED PROCLAMATION

    The signed proclamation from 1983 declaring October as the celebrated Co-op month in LA. encouraged the learning and spirit of cooperation.

  • A bookshelf filled with books, including titles on cooperation, history, and George Jacob Holyoake.

    Cooperative Library

    LARGEST PRIVATE COLLECTION OF CO-OP LITERATURE

    Approximately 4,000 books, and hundreds of pamphlets about various co-ops and their influences, which have been collected since the 1970s by David J Thompson. Contact for more information.