UC San Diego Undergraduate Library Research Prize

Winner 2025 Special Collection & Archives Category, nominated by Adena Schachner (Department of Psychology)

At UC San Diego (UCSD), student-run cooperatives—Groundwork Books, Food Co-Op, General Store, and Che Café - function as hubs for cultural expression, activism, and community connection. Focusing on Groundwork Books, this study examines how place attachment, the emotional bond individuals form with meaningful space and community resilience, and the capacity to adapt and recover from adversity are displayed in the past fifty years since its conception as a student cooperative. Through a mixed-methods approach, this study explores the quantifiable levels of place attachment and community resilience within UCSD’s student cooperatives and specifically unearthing Groundwork Books legacy in being a functional space. Archival data and document analysis, surveys, and interviews with past and current Groundwork Books members are implemented in understanding the lived experiences of Groundwork Books history. This study provides a nuanced understanding of how place attachment and community resilience manifest in Groundwork Books, highlighting the historical and social significance of student cooperatives.