No Bookstore in Town
It’s been all over the news this week that the AP has reported that Laredo, Texas, is losing its last bookstore in January and will probably be the largest city without one. Think about it—no bookstore of any kind. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re a bookaholic like me and spend a fair amount of time in your favorite bookstore, whether it be indy or chain. Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to go 150 miles to get to one?
This isn’t about my usual soapbox theme of saving independents. Even a bare essentials shop like the B. Dalton in Laredo is miles better than no bookstore at all. Granted, internet bookstores are still available, but I just can’t fathom not being able to see and feel and smell a book before I buy it or to not have the opportunity to wander the aisles waiting for just the right cover to grab my attention. To make matters worse for the people of Laredo, the article gives the impression that many of them are in less-than-affluent circumstances and I’d be willing to bet cash is the favored mode of payment. What if they don’t have credit cards they can use for online shopping?
Literacy skills are an issue in Laredo, a condition that makes it even sadder that there will be no bookstore to encourage reading. Thank heavens they have what appears to be a strong library system but it’s interesting that the library director is the one spearheading the work to get a bookstore while the city officials talk about building an indoor snow park.
The realities of economics are certainly at the bottom of Laredo’s situation—if its citizens spent enough in bookstores, they wouldn’t have just one. The comment of one of the residents, “It made me wish I had shopped there more”, is the essence of the problem and we can only hope this will never happen in our own towns.
December 18, 2009
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
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