The New International Bookshop

The International Bookshop was a bastion of Melbourne’s Left and literary culture from the 1930s until the dissolution of the Communist Party of Australia in the early 1990s. When that shop closed, the New International Bookshop (NIBS) Co-operative was founded – and eventually opened the doors of a new shop in Melbourne’s Trades Hall in 1996.

We are a co-operative organisation in structure and practice, with over 450 members and dozens of volunteers – some with weekly shifts, others involved in specific projects and events. Our not-for-profit status means all money made is reinvested in books, shop fittings and the wages of our small part-time staff.

We pride ourselves on operating an open space where diverse individuals and organisations of the Left can meet, debate and collaborate. This openness is reflected in our staff, our stock and our events – which span a broad Left spectrum from social democracy to revolutionary Marxism and anarchism, from green politics to feminism and the avant-garde.

More than just a bookshop, we also run a coffee shop, an activist meeting room and the Wednesday night events program Underground Talk – as well as one-off cultural events, fundraisers and the annual bargain hunters’ delight that is the Big Red Book Fair every June.

At a time of imminent climate change catastrophe, global financial crisis and endless war, the New International Bookshop is a small ray of light in a world clouded by greed. If you like what you see, help us by shopping at our website, or popping in to Trades Hall the next time you’re in Melbourne.