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