Bookstores

Today I was saddened to read in the paper about the bankruptcy of Borders book stores. Apparently the company hasn't done what it needed to do to keep up with the digital revolution in books and has lost its way over the past 10 years. Of course this sadness is haunted by the knowledge that I probably haven't shopped in a Borders in the past 10 years. Am I allowed to talk about how sad the situation is if I have been part of the problem? My life has changed enough now that I'm primarily a library user, an Amazon user (dang those books are cheap, and you have to love the convenience of ordering from your living room couch), and a local independent bookstore user (though I'm probably not doing enough to help THEM stay in business either).

But I have a soft spot in my heart for Borders. Enough that I often found it hard to go to Barnes & Noble instead, even once we moved up here and had a B&N that was much more convenient to go to than anything else (even that independent bookstore). Back in the early 90's, Borders was the first bookstore "experience" I got to enjoy - go just to browse, have a coffee in the cafe, find a good deal. It was just such a calming event. Not as quiet as a library so you didn't have to tiptoe around, though how could it not be soothing with all that printed material everywhere? Plus they were the first place I'd ever seen promote a "banned books" week, featuring titles that have been crazily banned in various places around the country. I still have my 15+ year old t-shirt from that.

So I'll be a little sad about it and hope they can get their act together. But I still probably won't shop there. And maybe I can hope that my little independent bookstore will some day get big enough to add more in-store stock and a little cafe in the back. Then I'll be in bookstore heaven again.