Without Borders

Borders Books is closing? Really? Yawn. Seriously. Although I feel for the nearly 11,000 employees who will lose their jobs, and the publishers who will suffer when unsold books are returned and bills are left unpaid, I don't see how this will impact me in the slightest.

Borders didn't carry my book. I was never tempted to arrange an event at a Borders. I haven't shopped in a Borders for years (other than an attempt to bargain hunt at a store-closing sale earlier this year) and the last time I tried to do so I was horrified by the staff's lack of book knowledge. When I worked in DC, I used to visit Borders often on my lunch hour, and possibly they started losing money when I moved away. But Barnes & Noble long ago passed Borders as my favorite superstore, for inventory alone--not to mention ambiance, coffee, and competence.

And the closest Borders to me now is about 100 miles away. The Barnes & Noble branches aren't exactly close--there's one in Harrisonburg and one in Charlottesville--but they're in reach. And there are decent independent bookstores much closer. I may not be able to browse much in those stores, but they will be happy to order for me--and be polite and efficient while doing it.

So I can't get too broken up about the loss of Borders. There are plenty of problems in the book business, but Borders' wounds were self-inflicted.