On February 16, 2011 I had been working at Borders for about two and half years when we received the news that the company would be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy and subsequently closing all of its stores by fall, in two waves. Our store was in the first wave and for the next two months we experienced the liquidation of books. The type of people who end up working at a bookstore for any length of time are typically the type of people who enjoy reading and have a profound love of books and the written word. So to see our store completely trashed after the first day of liquidation was hard. But to hear the countless numbers of people telling us that "books are dead" or that "no one buys books anymore" was even harder. But only because we, as book lovers, did not believe that to be true.
The death of Borders was the death of a poorly run company, not the death of books. Today, more than four years later, people still buy books and they still frequent bookstores. Could it be that the death of a giant book conglomerate like Borders actually made room for another type of book buying experience to grow and flourish?
In the last four years the number of independent bookstores across America has grown by 25%. This comes during a time when consumers are commonly choosing to put their dollars in smaller, local businesses rather than big, box stores. In honor of the inaugural Independent Bookstore Day, small bookstores across the country offered discounts, featured guest authors, and coordinated games and prizes, all to huge turnouts and massive participation.
It will be a pleasure in the future to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day, but I can only hope that the holiday's success is accompanied by further success of the bookstores it seeks to honor.
The death of Borders was the death of a poorly run company, not the death of books. Today, more than four years later, people still buy books and they still frequent bookstores. Could it be that the death of a giant book conglomerate like Borders actually made room for another type of book buying experience to grow and flourish?
In the last four years the number of independent bookstores across America has grown by 25%. This comes during a time when consumers are commonly choosing to put their dollars in smaller, local businesses rather than big, box stores. In honor of the inaugural Independent Bookstore Day, small bookstores across the country offered discounts, featured guest authors, and coordinated games and prizes, all to huge turnouts and massive participation.
It will be a pleasure in the future to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day, but I can only hope that the holiday's success is accompanied by further success of the bookstores it seeks to honor.