For the past two weeks our community has been alerted to the financial pressures our beloved

Kings Cooperative Bookstore is under. We have been faced with alarmist predictions that we could be without the bookstore as early as the spring, and that only deep cuts to its operating costs can prevent this outcome. For the past two weeks a group of us have refused to take this news sitting down. We have gathered petition signatures and we seek to propose a proactive agenda to address the pressures facing our bookstore. We believe that our financial problems are better solved by growth, and harnessing the collective power of our cooperative structure. Not only does our cooperative provide an environment in which a plurality of minds can produce a diversity of solutions, but it also serves as a vehicle to energize the customer base that will provide the definitive solution to our financial pressures. Today we have submitted our petitions to the chair of the board, Stephanie Duchon, to request a general meeting of the cooperative to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 21. We invite the board of directors to work in the spirit of cooperation with its membership as we chart a course to calmer financial waters. We seek to achieve three primary goals at this general meeting. First, we desire to see the details regarding our financial situation presented to the whole cooperative body, in the hopes that a more nuanced illustration of the bookstores status might be seen. It is vital, as we move forward with the development of our bookstore, that all parties come to an equal understanding of what challenges we face. Second, we seek to create a permanent staff representative on the board of directors for the bookstore. We believe that the recent decision by the board to change pay hours needed to be done in consultation with management and staff, and that staff representation will ensure this consultation in the future. We also recognize that staff has an invaluable insight into what customers want, and that this insight should be present at the director level. Third, we seek to create a committee, to be chaired by a board member, to be made up of cooperative members, to develop a strategic plan for the bookstores next two years. We believe that a plan tailored by the bookstore membership is most suited to tackling the pressures the business faces. This plan will give the directors a clear mandate on how to proceed in the future. We will be posting these motions in detail on the bulletin board outside the KSU office on Saturday, Nov. 10 by 5 p.m.. We invite all cooperative members to join us, and we look forward to a productive meeting. Sincerely, Anna Dubinski, David Etherington, Gabe Hoogers, Harry Sawchuk and Aaron Shenkman