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Your post got me curious, Maryland; shore. I remember a lovely independent bookstore on the shore where I bought my first alphabet book by Sue Grafton. I think it was in Easton (MD) on the road as you enter town from the North.
And, I too miss the independents, but have found in my travels some still thriving. In particular, those that stand out are in Taos (NM), privately owned and operated in the square; Park Slope NY, privately owned and operated by a personal friend; a lovely new and old bookseller in Charleston, WV; a quite new but delicious one in Livingston Manor, NY and others.
Of course when I lived in MA, I felt as if I had died and gone to book heaven: nothing like Northampton, Amherst and that huge second hand bookseller at the Mill. I miss those nearly as much as I miss breathing!
I always visit these; I nearly always wind up with a bag full of wonder and a lighter debit card.
In fact, I was just asked to write an article about booksellers and have visited all of ours in a 50m radius. It has been absorbing, and a terrific new learning experience: seeing the books from the other side of the counter. In fact that is one of several deadlines I have: a visit to a final bookseller and an article to write.
Sorry to hear that any have closed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katzenfreund
I worked for a small independent book store for several years, it was my favorite job ever. Met so many interesting people and being around books all day - who could ask for more? The bookstore had been in existence for many, many years. Then Walmart started came to the area and people started buying on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble... so the little bookshop made less money every year. We opened up a coffee bar and started selling gifty type items, but even that couldn't keep the store open in the end. Before we moved out of MD, I visited the Eastern Shore and found out that the bookstore had closed - what a loss to the community. Now there is NO place around to buy books, other than a Barnes and Noble about 25 miles from there and the Walmart about 15 miles from there. We live in Central MA and our town has no bookstore at all. Once a month we drive to Amherst and it's a book lovers paradise :-)))... I buy there, but also buy some used books on Amazon or Ebay, especially if I need something in a hurry. I really miss the old time bookstores though and if we had a local one, I would do my shopping there.
Your post got me curious, Maryland; shore. I remember a lovely independent bookstore on the shore where I bought my first alphabet book by Sue Grafton. I think it was in Easton (MD) on the road as you enter town from the North.
And, I too miss the independents, but have found in my travels some still thriving. In particular, those that stand out are in Taos (NM), privately owned and operated in the square; Park Slope NY, privately owned and operated by a personal friend; a lovely new and old bookseller in Charleston, WV; a quite new but delicious one in Livingston Manor, NY and others.
Of course when I lived in MA, I felt as if I had died and gone to book heaven: nothing like Northampton, Amherst and that huge second hand bookseller at the Mill. I miss those nearly as much as I miss breathing!
I always visit these; I nearly always wind up with a bag full of wonder and a lighter debit card.
In fact, I was just asked to write an article about booksellers and have visited all of ours in a 50m radius. It has been absorbing, and a terrific new learning experience: seeing the books from the other side of the counter. In fact that is one of several deadlines I have: a visit to a final bookseller and an article to write.
Sorry to hear that any have closed.
OTR, the shop I worked at was called Corsica Book Shop and it was located in Centreville on the main street, which is about 30 minutes north of Easton. The store was owned by a woman named Helen Mann for many, many years. When she retired due to age, she sold it to my former boss. I loved that little old store, actually it expanded quite a bit due to the coffee bar and gifts. I was really sad when it had to close in the end. We had some very loyal customers, but in the end there weren't enough of them.
Oh, Amherst is a booklovers paradise, isn't it? Love going there....especially in the warmer months when they also have all different kinds of festivals on the common
I may have missed that one in Centreville, or perhaps forgotten it after so long. Pity it closed. I liked that area each time I visited.
And yes Amherst is a great place for books, and if one wanders around the general Pioneer Valley one finds it is still the cosy New England I love and spent half my life in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katzenfreund
OTR, the shop I worked at was called Corsica Book Shop and it was located in Centreville on the main street, which is about 30 minutes north of Easton. The store was owned by a woman named Helen Mann for many, many years. When she retired due to age, she sold it to my former boss. I loved that little old store, actually it expanded quite a bit due to the coffee bar and gifts. I was really sad when it had to close in the end. We had some very loyal customers, but in the end there weren't enough of them.
Oh, Amherst is a booklovers paradise, isn't it? Love going there....especially in the warmer months when they also have all different kinds of festivals on the common
With the price of gas what it is, I do as much of my shopping as I can online. Not too mention that time involved in actually finding the book I am looking for in the store.
I use Amazon and Ebay alot. When I use Amazon, I normally purchase enough to get free shipping. I also love the referral thing they do, there are certain subjects I enjoy or that my daughter enjoys, finding books that are related are awesome.
I do alot of shopping online in general and I find it a very time saving thing to do. I am not fond of crowded places and noisey places, its a nice alternative for me.
I am so glad that I took a minute to read through this thread. It is wonderful that there are still sources to get out of print books.
I have run into that disappointment many times of going to the bookstore and discovering that my preferred book is out of print. My best source has been through a book bindery in Williamsport, PA where I worked summers to put myself through college.
It is still a thriving book bindery supplying books to schools and libraries world-wide. The company name is Brodart Books and they will ship used or new books anywhere for just the cost of shipping.
Book Services Division Brodart Books
500 Arch Street
Williamsport, PA 17701
Hubby and I go to Williamsport at least one a year to visit family and love to hit Brodart when they are having their semi-annual "Buck-a-Book" sale. A whole week of fun going through their shelves and trolleys of books, new and used, returned from school and public libraries, bookstores as overstock, and other sources.
Their factory store, including online or by phone, sells books at a 25% discount for current titles and a deeper discount for old titles.
This may be another possible source for many who are looking for a long-gone book.
You can go the bookstores, find a book you want to buy, then go to Amazon and buy them used for less money - depending on the age, as low as $.01. A detailed description and seller's past reliability reputation is provided.
Thank goodness there are still people that support their local businesses by exploiting their great selection!
Someone the other day told me that they shopped Amazon because they just had a better selection... which is one of the more annoying things I've heard. They have access to a lot of books. All bookstores do (except the chains). Amazon gets books from the same place your local bookstore does. They don't necessarily stock them, they know where to get them... Just like real bookstores. You expect to have to wait when you order something online, but somehow, it's often unnacceptable for a physical location to not have, on hand, that random book you want. The store offers to order it, generally for no shipping fees (which, if you do the math means you save, maybe, a buck at Amazon. Unless you buy used, which is a completely different animal altogether... local used bookstores can order books as well.) and generally can get your book to you faster.
When was the last time Amazon donated to a local charity, or offered some stuff for a silent auction so your neighbors kid could earn enough money to go to Spain to learn how to bullfight or something?
Last edited by colorado native; 03-03-2008 at 07:51 AM..
Keppler's books in... some place, California let their town know that they were closing. There was an ENORMOUS outcry and and huge rallies in support. Everyone talked about how important the bookstore was to the community and to the intellectual vitality of the town.
The owner and employees had never even seen most of the people that rallied. A kid in a journalism class interviewed hundreds of people at these rallies and found that about 85% bought most of their books online.
I'm sure there's a connection here...
A fund was created to help Keppler's and they've now been back in biz for a year, and suddenly their sales have skyrocketed, which allows them to hold some pretty stellar author events, etc. Community is not a one-way street, it appears.
A community is composed of all its members and in some communities a bookstore represents both an avenue and a path to education, intellectual curiosity and amusement. However, not all communities identify with any of these, but rather elect to get their shopping done in malls, online or in other neighbourhoods and that includes their book buying.
When speaking to some neighbours here, a very small rural community, I got varied responses about where they bought their books. Those most committed to reading would go the 40-odd miles to our Livingston Manor bookstore, a treasure to behold, while others would prefer to go 55-odd miles to a much larger town/city and do all their shopping at a mall and purchase their books at a large chain store.
What distinguished the readers, all of whom, are my neighbours, some of whom are my friends, is their attitude towards books, in general, and their life-style view of convenience over leisure and potential pleasure.
For some, it may be a moral imperative, but judging from my interviews, even among my closest friends, highly educated and well informed, I find the purchase of any item from a book to a bed is conducted on line or at a large, and not always convenient mall.
Convivium is a lost art. It might be rediscovered, but time is running out.
For some, it may be a moral imperative, but judging from my interviews, even among my closest friends, highly educated and well informed, I find the purchase of any item from a book to a bed is conducted on line or at a large, and not always convenient mall.
Which kind of begs the question of what you mean by well informed.
Which kind of begs the question of what you mean by well informed.
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Brodart Book bindery and supplier
