From: Claudia Holland <[log in to unmask]> Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 19:51:49 +0000 Interesting. I love what smaller family-owned bookstores used to offer―the smell of hundreds of books in one place (a “newer” smell than a library of books of all ages), the anticipation of spending time looking at and riffling through books I don’t normally purchase or those I intend to, the side-long glance to see what titles others are engrossed in (a little hard to do when it’s on a device), who’s looking at magazines rather than books, the personal banter with the owners and staff, and so on. I dislike the toys (I LIKE toys, just not in a bookstore), the smell of coffee (sorry, pet peeve), and the size and impersonality of bookstores now, but I still like to go. It’s just not as satisfying. I tend to enjoy my local public library more, now. I experience the spectrum of my community there, as well as the other things I mentioned. Do you think that one day bookstores will simply become “print showrooms”? That sounds so much like buying a car or going to a museum. Claudia On 12/4/14, 6:56 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2014 20:23:14 -0500 > >I miss the overall experience of a public place, the browsing, the >occasional book-related conversations with people I don't know. I >feel much the same wandering the stacks in a library. I would be very >happy to live in a world where bookstores were ubiquitous, but all >purchases were made electronically. So bookstores would be print >showrooms for ebooks. But it's the public experience, the Third >Place, that is so compelling for me. > >Joe > >On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 6:27 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> From: Claudia Holland <[log in to unmask]> >> Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2014 17:11:49 +0000 >> >> But, Joe, what is it that you miss about bookstores, if you don¹t miss >> print books? >> >> Claudia Holland >> >> >> On 12/1/14, 7:13 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> >From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> >> >Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2014 11:54:50 -0500 >> > >> >I read this post just prior to boarding a flight from Los Angeles to >> >New York. By my estimate well over half the passengers were watching >> >a movie or sports event on the seat-back video display. So in >> >addition to the question of print vs. digital books, we have the >> >competition with other media. My view is that consumer publishing, >> >insofar as it is a species of entertainment, will be seriously >> >challenged by the many new media alternatives. In this respect, Apple >> >is a bigger threat than Amazon. >> > >> >As for shelf space at Barnes & Noble, this is much discussed in trade >> >book circles. We had an unsustainable high point for book shelf space >> >in the 1990s (the increased shelf space for superstores did not >> >materially improve sales in the aggregate, so the cost of the retail >> >operations inevitably would make the model collapse, even without the >> >introduction of ebooks). A B&N store at that time with 150,000 titles >> >was not 100% books (calendars, toys, cards, etc. were always part of >> >the mix), but there is no doubt that calling B&N a bookstore now seems >> >almost fraudulent. Interestingly, other stores have now begun to sell >> >books (e.g., Anthropologie). So is the shelf space growing or >> >shrinking? >> > >> >What is clear, though, is that it is shrinking for intellectually >> >serious books. A clothing boutique may carry books, but probably not >> >those that the members of this list consider relevant. >> > >> >In about 1995 I saw the entire Loeb Classical Library in a Borders on >> >Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I knew that was simply marketing, an >> >attempt to make the store seem more serious than it was, to add "tone" >> >to the off-price books in the front of the store. >> > >> >The book business is a small one. It will persist, but over time it >> >will likely return to its core constituency of serious readers, most >> >of whom will find their book online. I don't miss print books myself, >> >but I do miss bookstores. >> > >> >Joe Esposito