J.K. Rowling and Coffee Shop Bookstores
The Local Bookseller, the Bookstore Chain, and Your Friendly Local Library
With the popularity of the mega-bookstore chains, complete with fancy coffee shop and music department, I'm wondering if we're shutting out the little guys with smaller bookshops and beyond that, how/if it affects local libraries.
Case in point, as a junior or senior at LSU, Barnes & Noble came to campus. They bought out the campus bookstore and near-riots ensued. (Click here for a similar situation in Canada in 2002.) Everyone had an opinion. I didn’t so much care then, as long as the cheapest option for textbooks prevailed. Last week, however, when I visited campus for the first time in a while, I counted three book/textbook stores that have closed since B&N came to campus.
I am not trying to single anyone out. I'm just questioning if the megastores are shutting out the small, independent book sellers? Should we be proud of mega-bookstore chains for making books more accessible and popularizing reading? Or should we worry about “the little guy”?
And then the question becomes what can our libraries learn from the chain bookstore phenomenon? Is there a way to apply the popular bookstore aura to our libraries? Or is it just impossible to compete with overpriced coffee and full-price books?
Could You Be the Next J.K. Rowling?
Perhaps the most magical thing about the Harry Potter author is the story of how she got started in the book business.
With the popularity of the mega-bookstore chains, complete with fancy coffee shop and music department, I'm wondering if we're shutting out the little guys with smaller bookshops and beyond that, how/if it affects local libraries.
Case in point, as a junior or senior at LSU, Barnes & Noble came to campus. They bought out the campus bookstore and near-riots ensued. (Click here for a similar situation in Canada in 2002.) Everyone had an opinion. I didn’t so much care then, as long as the cheapest option for textbooks prevailed. Last week, however, when I visited campus for the first time in a while, I counted three book/textbook stores that have closed since B&N came to campus.
I am not trying to single anyone out. I'm just questioning if the megastores are shutting out the small, independent book sellers? Should we be proud of mega-bookstore chains for making books more accessible and popularizing reading? Or should we worry about “the little guy”?
And then the question becomes what can our libraries learn from the chain bookstore phenomenon? Is there a way to apply the popular bookstore aura to our libraries? Or is it just impossible to compete with overpriced coffee and full-price books?
Could You Be the Next J.K. Rowling?
Perhaps the most magical thing about the Harry Potter author is the story of how she got started in the book business.
posted by Lee Ann @ 2:04 PM
1 Comments:
At 10:56 AM,
mrtzgrl said…
Our city built a new downtown library to rival any Barnes & Nobles. It features a Joffrey's coffee shop, an art gallery, one floor dedicated to research and one floor dedicated to kids (with a teen room with computers that looks like it's been designed by someone on trading spaces). And best of all is that the wall facing the west is glass on all four floors so in the evening you can enjoy a gorgeous sunset over the gulf of mexico. I agree that if more libraries made the investment it could level the playing ground a bit..
Post a Comment
<< Home