5) Browsing is still easier and simpler at brick-and-mortar bookstores like Borders
Many readers find it very satisfying to be able to hold and skim through a physical copy of the book they are considering purchasing. While sites like Amazon.com have limited pages of books available for online viewing, they do not allow you to look through the entire book to make sure it is what you are looking for. Physical store locations do make this type of browsing possible.
Also, one of the most enjoyable things about visiting a bookstore is being intrigued by a book you simply see sitting on the shelf, but you may never have sought out or even known to look for. This type of experience is very hard to recreate in the search-driven world of online shopping.
4) Online shopping and e-readers are less accessible to lower-income people than bookstores are
Many people with very low incomes do not have access to a credit card. People with severe economic difficulties often also do not have checking accounts and therefore do not have a checkcard, either. At a brick-and-mortar retailer, these people can simply pay with cash. That option is not possible with the Kindle, where books are paid for electronically.
Moreover, an e-reader like the Kindle can cost upwards of $100, creating a financial barrier for low-income readers. This can become especially problematic if publishers start to produce their books primarily as e-books while issuing few or no physical copies for sale. When bookstores are situated in neighborhoods and stock physical books, readers can simply go and purchase the book they want without having to absorb a prohibitively high startup cost.
3 Brick-and-mortar booksellers are often the focal points of a community
In an age when people are less likely to attend church or join the local bowling league, bookstores have often assumed the role of a community meeting place. Bookstores host everything from reading groups to reading lessons. They often serve as venues for authors to visit new areas, discuss their books, and connect with readers. Bookstores also allow like-minded readers to connect with one another, perhaps in an in-store café or simply while browsing through the aisles. The loss of the brick-and-mortar bookstore would be another blow to a fading sense of community in American towns.
)2 Bookstores like Borders draw customers to fading downtowns
When a large bookstore that previously drew customers closes down, often surrounding businesses also suffer. Brick-and-mortar bookstores are frequently the "anchor" to a small strip mall or small town business district. The loss of bookstores further accelerates the decay of "Main Street."
1) With slashed library budgets, bookstores are often the most prominent physical institutions devoted to books
Many communities are already suffering from cuts to library budgets in light of the Great Recession. Losing brick-and-mortar bookstores too would mean that, in many communities, there would be no visible physical institutions devoted to books and reading. And we all know that old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind." Walking by bookstores and libraries on the way to work, to school, or to the supermarket is a great reminder to us of just how much there is out there to be explored through books.
Online booksellers and the Kindle are here to stay
The Kindle is massively popular and, of course, so is shopping online for books. This is because these methods are easy; convenient; and, for some, very affordable. While it would be foolish to try to turn back progress, much less to mourn the fact that Borders is finally succumbing to the harsh realities of capitalism which it used to squeeze out its competitors, we can acknowledge that certain important things would be lost were brick-and-mortar booksellers to disappear completely from the American landscape.The loss of these stores should give further urgency to movements around the country to preserve public libraries so that physical books can continue to be readily available to people in their communities.
No comments:
Post a Comment