HYDE PARK — The Seminary Cooperative Bookstore is holding a town hall meeting Saturday to talk about the conversion of shareholders to members — who still get discounts but have no say in how the business is run — and other updates to the cooperative.
The meeting at 1 p.m Saturday at the bookstore, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave., is set to give members a chance to talk to director Jeff Deutsch about the changes to the cooperative.
In February, Deutsch proposed changing many of the 61,395 shareholders who don’t participate in meetings governing the cooperative to members who would retain their discounts at the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore and 57th Street Books.
In May, the approximately 50,000 shareholders who hadn't made a purchase in the last two years and hadn't attended a governance meeting were changed to "charter members."
Deutsch said the new attention on the health of the cooperative has rallied people to volunteer and get more involved in the long-term viability of the bookstore.
"Part of what we're talking about at the town hall is how to ge people more involved in the governance of the cooperative," Deutsch said.
The bookstore has also debated other changes like trying to change to a nonprofit or dissolving the cooperative and reincorporating in Illinois to take advantage of regulatory changes.
Deutsch will give an overview of the recent changes and answer questions.
