The number of members of the American Booksellers' Association is slowly creeping up, a welcome sign after a steep decline from 5500 members in 1995 to 2191 in 2002. ABA is comprised of indie booksellers, and though the dominant narrative has it that the indies were slaughtered by Amazon, the numbers suggest that the decline had more to do with the rise of the big-box chain-stores (ironically, these are dead [Borders] or dying [B&N] and were almost certainly killed by Amazon).
More interesting is why the number of indie bookstores is growing:
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Showing posts with label bookstores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookstores. Show all posts
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Saturday, April 21, 2012
What Is It About Books?
What is it about books that is so comforting to some of us? I’m not talking so much about reading – one can read in many types of media. As [Alberto] Manguel reveals in...A History of Reading - the methods, entitlements, and habits of reading have changed greatly over the course of written history. The outcry about the “loss of books” to electronic media is misplaced. Electronic media provide reading: printed ink-on-paper books provide a mystique in their sheer physical presence that is not transmitted to cold plastic.
How to explain the feeling you get in a bookshop or a library - public or private - where you are surrounded by printed volumes, of there being something special there for you and you alone? Something waiting for you to find it, or to find you by serendipity. The feeling that makes you say “ahhhhh” when you step into the presence of a room filled with books.
More HERE.
How to explain the feeling you get in a bookshop or a library - public or private - where you are surrounded by printed volumes, of there being something special there for you and you alone? Something waiting for you to find it, or to find you by serendipity. The feeling that makes you say “ahhhhh” when you step into the presence of a room filled with books.
More HERE.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
10 Truly Unique Bookstores in America
Traveling this summer?
Bookstores outside the mainstream give cities across America (and the world!) a dose of local spice and build supportive communities of like-minded individuals. Some focus on certain genres, some would rather promote a specific ideology, and others want to encourage academic research (or other form of appreciation) appreciation of an oft-ignored niche. Regardless of their bent, these unique, often quirky, and extremely intriguing bookstores help open up the country to a far broader spectrum of literature found far beyond the realm of the commercial chain. While many of them do carry popular literature from major publishers, their true calling lay with offering a haven for hobbyists, professionals, and fans from oft-ignored or overlooked markets. And the United States is certainly better off because of it.
Bookstores outside the mainstream give cities across America (and the world!) a dose of local spice and build supportive communities of like-minded individuals. Some focus on certain genres, some would rather promote a specific ideology, and others want to encourage academic research (or other form of appreciation) appreciation of an oft-ignored niche. Regardless of their bent, these unique, often quirky, and extremely intriguing bookstores help open up the country to a far broader spectrum of literature found far beyond the realm of the commercial chain. While many of them do carry popular literature from major publishers, their true calling lay with offering a haven for hobbyists, professionals, and fans from oft-ignored or overlooked markets. And the United States is certainly better off because of it.
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