Welcome to the Iron Rail!
The Iron Rail is an anarchist bookstore, lending library, record shop, alternative and local media outlet, and resource for radical organizing. The space is coordinated and maintained by volunteers working in a collective and non-hierarchal environment.
We have four goals:
- To provide New Orleans residents and guests with access to radical literature.
- To promote literacy through reading materials, reading groups, workshops, discussions, lectures, and other programming.
- To create an inclusive, inviting, pro-woman, queer friendly space that welcomes people of all ages, skin colors, and social classes.
- To serve as a networking and meeting space for local organizations as well as radical and community projects. We envision this work as part of a larger social movement pursuing a more just and equitable society.
We’re located at 511 Marigny St., New Orleans LA, and open 7 days a week from 1-7 pm. We are currently without a phone.
| MEETINGS: The collective meets every Wednesday evening at 8pm. This is an open meeting; newcomers and volunteers always welcome! Thursdays at 8 the Rail hosts the Crescent City Anti-Authoritarians, a grassroots group formed in response to the BP oil disaster Returning soon is Iron Rail Ladies’ Nite, a relaxed-format project, discussion & social group for women, girls & female-identified persons only. |
THE THINGS WE CARRY:
Our library contains over 5,000 titles, including a strong fiction section. Our non-fiction covers a broad spectrum, organized by category, ranging from anarchist theory, feminism, gender/queer and race studies to history, philosophy and spirituality. We even have childrens’ books and comic books!
The bookshop offers books from presses such as Verso, South End Press, Last Gasp, AK Press, and many others. We specialize in radical politics/culture and good local books about and by New Orleanians.
The Aboveground ‘Zine Library has thousands upon thousands of ‘zines across the spectrum, ranging from fanzines of the fifties to anarchist newspapers of the eighties, from the personal to the political and all subjects in between. This amazing globe- and generation-spanning archive is available for browsing any time the Rail’s open!
The record rack stocks vinyl, CDs, and cassette tapes. We carry punk, hardcore, metal, indie rock, and more.
The reading room allows for comfortable browsing of our zine and reference collections.
Our new Uptown Annex, located at 4332 Magazine St. inside Magazine Perks, carries a tempting smattering of the goodness waiting in our primary location… a small “sampler platter” of ‘zines, records, books, flyers & handcrafts.
SCHEDULING AN EVENT:
Feel free to talk to us about scheduling an event. We can be reached electronically, but it’s best if you come to one of our weekly collective meetings and pitch your event in person.
We are always open to ideas! We’d most like to host local book readings and workshops/skill shares, but are down for whatever. We *cannot* host bands; we are not a musical performance venue. Events work best when held after our regular hours at 7 or 8 pm. We also have a projector and screen that can be used for showing films.