IN PRAISE OF INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES

Part 1:

I was recently given a book about bookstores. It is a collection of short chapters by 80 different authors who each pay tribute to their favorite bookstore.

Most of the shops seem small, rich in personality, and staffed by devoted verbivores who not only sell books but love them.

And, whether it is specifically mentioned or not, most if not all of the stores seem to be endangered — by big stores and other options to the way we acquire and ingest reading material these days.

The old-school inconvenience of driving to a store and purchasing a book in person seems highly inefficient, outdated, and unsustainable in the contemporary marketplace. And few businesses feel the effect of on-line commerce more than small, independent bookstores. 

A point of clarification: there is no such thing as an ‘independent’ bookstore. They are all entirely dependent on the patronage of ones like us — us verbivores — to purchase books in order for them to stay in business.

When you can, if you have one in your community, please support your local, stand-alone bookstore.

Love the verbivores in your hometown.

~ allen