I found this passage from The New Yorker’s recent article on the iPad and the book business to be kind of depressing:
“According to the American Booksellers Association, the number of independent booksellers has declined from 3,250 to 1,400 since 1999; independents now represent just ten per cent of store sales. Chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders account for about thirty per cent of the market, and superstores like Target and Wal-Mart, along with clubs like Costco, account for forty-five per cent, though they typically carry far fewer titles.”
I can’t think of too many other places that I’d rather grab a cup of coffee and lose myself for hours than an independent bookstore. Browsing the e-book selection on a Web site just doesn’t carry the same mystery for me. I appreciate that Kansans are lucky to have some truly great indies in their state.
I bought my first copy of Granta at The Raven in Lawrence a few months ago. There’s also Watermark Books in Wichita, a place I’m always looking for an excuse to stop at when I’m passing through town. And traveling to the holy shrine of The Tattered Cover in Denver feels like a religious pilgrimage of sorts.
What I love so much about indie bookstores is that they do so much more than sell books. They promote a love of reading, writing and authors in a way that behemoths like Amazon.com never will. I’ll never forget heading to Wichita’s Orpheum Theatre a few years ago to hear Sarah Vowell do a reading courtesy of Watermark.
I really like the idea of being connected to books and their authors in a very human way, either through an author’s appearance or just through the knowledgeable advice of a seasoned clerk giving a recommendation that’s not generated by a computer. I hope that in the drive to acquire everything cheaply and more conveniently that too many people don’t lose sight of how much value these stores can still have.
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