What to expect if you start working with us

The Long March is what we call the process we have developed for helping new people get acquainted with Groundwork. The first thing is learning the mechanics of working in the bookstore. From there we try to familiarize you with what we've learned about working in collectives as well as our own internal structure, as elucidated in Groundwork's Red Documents. You will get to know about the collective agreements by tentatively making them with you day coordinator and about critical relationships by entering into one with your day coordinator (this sounds scary but isn't very hard to learn). The goal of the Long March is to move you toward making an informed decision about your relationship to the collective -- whether to come into the collective, to continue to work with us without making the collective agreements (become a fellow traveler) or to no longer work with us. If you choose to withdraw, all we ask is that you do it in a disciplined way, and don't be a stranger -- come by to visit sometime.

How to begin participating

• Tell a Groundworker you would like to start staffing a shift

• Take our Collective Theory and Skills study group. Offered every quarter

• Keep an eye on our bulletin board for special events

• Volunteer to take residual responsibility for a bookstore job. It is usually best to start with something small to avoid burn-out

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