City without a bookstore

[depakid]

The bookstore was Zhuara Rivera's magical "Neverland." It offered a fairy tale world for 14-year-old Rivera to get lost in stories and words. But the books are gone. On January 16, Barnes & Noble, which owns B. Dalton, closed the store inside Laredo's Mall del Norte.

That leaves Laredo, Texas, population of 250,000, one of the largest cities in the United States without a bookstore. The closest bookstore is now 150 miles away, in San Antonio, Texas. "I was very shocked and I think it's very sad," Zhuara said. "I love reading. I adore reading."

Zhuara and dozens of volunteers launched a grass-roots organization called "Laredo Reads." They've started a petition drive collecting signatures to show corporate book dealers that Laredo can support a bookstore. The death of the store has energized Zhuara. She leaves school and heads straight to the Laredo mall. She races around asking strangers to sign petition forms. She's collected nearly 1,000 signatures across the city.

"I seriously don't understand why people don't just like reading that much," she said as she walked briskly past the old store. "If you don't know how to read, you're not going to get very far in life."

...Laredo does have two public libraries with a catalog of more than 200,00 books. But library officials say they can't keep up with the demand for the most popular titles. Maria Soliz, manager of the Laredo Public Library, says she hopes to expand the library's collection and expects to see an increase in library card applications.

Soliz and others fear the loss of the city's bookstore will slow down efforts to improve Laredo's literacy rate. A 2003 study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 48 percent of the residents of Webb County, Texas -- home to Laredo -- lacked basic literacy skills.

Many say losing the bookstore threatens efforts to improve the city's literacy rate.

"A bookstore and what that means for kids to learn the value of literacy and to learn the value of loving books, that's just something you can't really put a value on," said Mora.

More: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/22/laredo.books/

[elleng]

1. But it has a SONG!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzfWLlvlAE

[Joe the Liberal]

2. Good luck to them, I hope they get their bookstore back. n/t

[dysfunctional press]

3. most books can be purchased (and delivered) on amazon.com cheaper than any bookstore.

it's just business.
if it can't be run profitably, it isn't going to happen.

a lot of people end up browsing at the bookstores, but buying online.
or sit for hours reading, but not buying anything but some coffee and a scone.
you can't run a business if people treat it like a public library.

[demodonkey]

4. Coffee and a scone costs more than a lot of books in some bookstores.

If they don't want coffee drinkers, close the cafe not the store.

[pipi_k]

25. And I've bought boxloads of books on eBay for ridiculously cheap prices

Sometimes I've even gotten books in those lots that I wouldn't ordinarily have bought that I do end up reading and they're pretty good.


I haven't been in a regular bookstore in ages...so many other places to buy them


:)

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. This is the future though

I have seen bookstores die...

As well as libraries.

And it saddens me

[MicaelS]

7. I'm afraid you are correct..

If someone had told me 25 years ago that music stores would go out of business, and the only place left to buy music locally would be the big box retailers, I would have laughed in their face. The same thing will happen to bookstores, and E-book readers are going to drive this decline.

[hfojvt]

9. actually Amazon is readily available

as well as B&N.com

It's nor a total loss.

[tango-tee]

12. Unfortunately, I also believe it is a sign of the times we live in.

I believe that a love of reading is instilled in a child early in life. The peace and quiet, the concentration, the willingness to take time as you read and understand what the author is trying to say.

Our times are of the instant-just-add-water variety. Loud, fast, in a hurry.

[cali]

6. wow. that's depressing.

I live in a poor town of just over 3,000 (OK, I live in a tiny village a few miles outside of town) and we have a wonderful bookstore:

http://www.galaxybookshop.com/

I can't imagine the community without it.

[hfojvt]

8. you have got to be kidding me

screw the corporates. Get me 2000 square feet or so. I still have 1/3 of my former store from Wisconsin.

When I closed my store in 1998 I gave up trying to find a city of 10-30,000 that didn't already have an accursed chain store.

I'd hate to live in a city of 250,000 though, but I think I will call these people tomorrow and see what their real estate looks like.

http://www.laredochamber.com/

[LuvNewcastle]

10. There's only one bookstore in my town (Books A Million).

There's a Barnes & Noble in the next town over and it gets a lot of traffic. I'm more concerned about the state of our libraries, though. My state, like many others, is facing a budget shortfall this year and they're cutting funds for all sorts of services. Some libraries are closed three days a week now. The budget for libraries should be cut only as a last resort, in my opinion.

[tango-tee]

11. That is sad.

While I appreciate Amazon and the quick deliveries of many books I could otherwise not get this easily in Europe, I love bookstores.

The different sections, ranging from fiction to science to religion to whatever. Since childhood and the time I first learned to read, I've loved the scent of books, taking one from a shelf, opening it somewhere, anywhere, expecting to be caught up in the author's words by reading a few sentences... Give me a bookstore over a candystore anytime.

[Hardrada]

13. I had a used and rare bookstore but sold new titles as well

and did so for ten years in a small town. Overhead got to be too much but I still have my inventory and then some and I sell online now. I do miss having a walk-in store and I met some great people. I think there are still places for walk-in bookstores and I give the ones I know as much business as possible. Here and abroad.

[tango-tee]

14. For me, it would be a dream come true

to have a bookstore. Not one the giant chain franchises, but a small store with used and rare books. One where customers come in whom you can get to know, recommend a good book to that you think they will enjoy. How wonderful. Many of my most beloved books were bought used. So many times I've come upon treasures through sheer luck.

But yes, I can imagine that overhead will kill you. Are you still in a line of work dealing with books? Please forgive me if I am being nosy.

[girl gone mad]

16. Lots of people have that dream.

That, and owning a coffee shop.

Both are very tough businesses, though. Several local book shops have gone under in my area, and we aren't even struggling economically (correction: as much as most other regions).

[tango-tee]

18. It is tough. But a person can still dream...

May I ask where you live in Texas? For many years I lived in Beaumont (Texas/Louisiana border).

[Hardrada]

29. Ok to ask me about this since I've actually written a few lengthy

articles for various books and magazines about my antiquarian book experiences. I have been at this for decades and sell mostly online but also have a mini-store at a local antique mall which I replenish with desired books when the need arises. I am often out there and meet buyers of my books now and then so that human aspect in part still exists. My town is too small for a rare book shop and I don't care to dabble with paperbacks and magazines etc. so this arrangement works best. I have enough inventory to have another walk-in store if I ever want to again but I have found I have little time to sit around minding a shop these days although it once was quite interesting. I also am a writer and an historian and that is quite time consuming also.

[Anakin Skywalker]

15. Umm...There's Always a WAL-MART!

with its fine selection of religious, feel-good books!

[onethatcares]

17. books, they're not all they're cracked up to be.

why, before you know it, people start reading and forming ideas. They begin questioning the whys and the wherefores. Next thing you know, American Idol loses another viewer and advertizing dollars drop off.

Those same people begin the other elitist item. WRITING THEIR REPRESENTATIVES which really opens a can of worms.

Better we burn the books, or in the words of someone I once met. Bedder we bern da bukes.

Psst, this was written sarcastically.:hi:

[leveymg]

19. Yes, but they still have Fox News and Kindles

Isn't that just wonderful!

[WolverineDG]

26. We're mostly Democrats down here

and the station with the highest ratings is Univision, but thanks for playing!

:hi:

dg

[eilen]

20. The community should support their local libraries

Honestly. They should donate to their libraries for more acquistions, space, staff, programming and overhead. I don't know what the libraries look like in Texas but the ones I saw in Tennessee were very small, old stock, and charged membership fees. One library by my sister's allowed me to take out only 3 books after I paid a membership of $35 and donated some hardcover bestsellers as there was way more empty shelf showing that should ever be permissable-- and it was not due to the small population of Ashland City over-borrowing. The library by my brother's home (in Nashville) had a $50 membership fee and their selection was maybe the size of my old high school library in upstate NY. My local village library has local tax support and is amazing, they even carry artwork you can borrow. We have a large group of boosters (Friends of the library) and hold book sales throughout the year of donated books as our library can only hold so much (not any empty shelves)--And they let me borrow as many as I can consume in a 21 day period.

[WolverineDG]

28. Yes, we have libraries

and paved streets, indoor plumbing, and even the intertubes.

dg

[Bitwit1234]

21. See what happens when the little shops around the corner disappear.

When the big big stores gobble them up and then they disappear. Time to open those little old shops again.

[MineralMan]

22. It's odd that nobody mentioned opening a bookstore.

If the demand is there, then it would be a thriving small business. The reality is that the one that closed probably closed because it wasn't making money. Competition with on-line booksellers and their frequent deep discount makes a brick-an-mortar bookstore a probably money-loser.

Sad, but true. Still, if they think that a bookstore should be in the city, they should start looking at opening one instead of complaining that one closed.

[WolverineDG]

27. Apparently, several people are looking into that

http://www.lasanbe.com/2010/01/open-for-business.html

dg

[surrealAmerican]

23. It's sad, but understandable, that a 14-year-old would think ...

... that bookstores need to be owned by large, national chains.

[depakid]

24. That's likely a regional variance

One wouldn't expect to see the same attitude in, say Eugene Oregon or Bellingham, Washington.