The Typing Pool, Downtown Monrovia

In the ground floor of an otherwise abandoned 5-6 story building on Broad Street, the exterior walls have been knocked out and the place has become a giant office for individual computer owners to sell their typing, layout, printing, and graphic design services, whatever you need. Depending on the person you ask, the place used to be a bank or a construction company. They call it the Typing Pool, and it also includes a few older people working manual typewriters, as well as individual copy machine owners who just make copies. Rates probably vary, but one copy machine owner tells LL that he pays LD$60 per day for the electricity (“current” is the word here) to the owner of a big generator on the premises. If anyone is paying rent, they wouldn't admit it.

The competition is fierce, since most people are offering mostly the same services, and there’s no advertising to give anyone an advantage over anyone else. Clients are found by word of mouth, or at random off the street. Since there are no exterior walls, the group must have to pay someone to provide security at night. (Otherwise you’d see cars full of computer equipment coming into town every morning!) Smaller computer/copy centers are scattered around town, but this has to be the granddaddy. Thanks to Typing Pool typists Josh and Josh (no relation) for the information.