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Challenge to support bookstores
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Werner
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Jul 20, 2016 06:46PM
Back in 2011, a lady on Goodreads, who was concerned about the need to support physical bookstores in order to keep them open and preserve all the benefits they provide, challenged the rest of us to buy at least two books (new ones, not used) per year from a brick-and-mortar store. I've met that challenge every year from 2011 on, and I've met it for 2016, having already bought two books so far (as presents for my wife). Maybe some others would be interested in taking up this challenge as well?
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Certainly, I'm on board, particularly for children's books . Important they have actual books in their hands I think.
Barbara wrote: "Certainly, I'm on board, particularly for children's books . Important they have actual books in their hands I think."I couldn't agree more, Barbara!
I'm completely supportive...every time I earn money from my writing, it all goes on ordering books, nearly always new ones, or visiting a bookstore on my rare visits to a city
Good for you, Tanya! (And best wishes for success with your writing.)
Hi all dear friends on Goodreads! Coincidentally, I just finished writing a comment on one of Werner's reviews regarding the term "coffee table book" and the usual connotation that these large size books are considered "just for looking" and are not really a fount of information. We both agree that most of these beautiful volumes are rich in info and visuals. It occurs to me that, if bookstores close, especially due to electronic reading, we will lose the pleasure and experience of their amazing photography, lovely illustrations, wealth of information, and the pride of presenting such a magnificent gift to friends and loved ones. I accept the challenge, too.
Sylvia, you make a really good point in favor of print books (and the bookstores that provide them)!
Here's an interesting and encouraging article on independent bookstores, from a blog called the Passive Voice, which one of my Goodreads friends regularly reads: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2016/0... .
Thank you, Werner! I've added its site to the books section of my favorites list!
This past Monday, I was saddened to learn that the local bookstore, Hearthside Books, will be closing its doors for good on Feb. 18. :-( I've shopped there since at least 2004 (they were the only bookstore I could find, besides Bluefield College's, that was willing to carry my book!). According to the newspaper article, they just didn't have enough business to sustain the store, so it's a graphic reminder of how important it is to support bookstores while we have them. (Now, I'll have to go further afield to find one to support.)
Werner, isn't there one just across the state line, in the other Bluefield?
MaryC wrote: "Werner, isn't there one just across the state line, in the other Bluefield?"No, MaryC, unfortunately, that's the one that's closing. We don't have a bookstore here on the Virginia side. (Despite the state line, the two Bluefields are pretty much one shopping area.) There used to be a couple of chain bookstores in the mall between the Bluefields and Princeton, WV, and there's a small Christian bookstore on the WV side as well. But I believe both of the former closed some time ago (I don't get out to the mall much anyway); and the latter has a very limited selection and poor special ordering capability.
For now, I'll probably do my new book purchasing, for the annual challenge, from the Barnes and Noble store in Harrisonburg, VA. We get up to that area a few times a year to visit my wife's family, and I've enjoyed window shopping there before; it's a large store, with a pretty good selection. I've never bought anything from them, but last year I did point out a couple of books there to my wife as good potential gifts for me. :-)
Books A Million is here as well, Werner.
Sallie wrote: "Books A Million is here as well, Werner."Very true, Sallie! I just mentioned Barnes and Noble since it's the store I'd be more apt to shop in there --it's larger, wih a bigger selection, and located in the same shopping center as Wal-Mart, where my wife and sisters-in-law like to shop (unlike me, they don't boycott it!). But I've window shopped in the Harrisonburg Books-a-Million a couple of times, years ago, and even bought a book there once.
HERE IS A BOOKSTORE WORTH MAKING VACATION PLANS TO VISIT!The Ohio Book Store, 726 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio
A 101 year old building housing a 77 year old bookstore of over 300.000 books and magazines, from rare books and first editions to complete collections of Look, Life, National Geographic, and even Playboy magazines! Floor to ceiling, basement to 4th floor, if you love old books and old buildings, you are guaranteed to get lost here.
You must be athletic enough to climb the service stairs in the back of the building. If handicapped, you may only be able to explore the first floor, but you can spend hours there, too.
Some of the sections I loved to peruse were the Bible reference books, the old dictionaries, the cookbooks (thousands of them!), the Life and Look Magazines, and the sheet music books. They even have repair manuals for old cars and appliances.
Some of our fondest memories: They still had an ancient working elevator at one time that took you up but not down (no brakes?). When you went upstairs, you turned on the lights; when you finished, you turned them off. When you got hot, you pushed up one of the huge old windows with wavy glass (no screens). We found a 19th century dictionary for our minister who collected old ones. We bought Life Magazines for our niece and nephew published the week they were born. After much searching in the Ls on the fiction floor, I found 3 NLs for my collection!
They do carry new books as well, and they have a book binding and repair service. They rebind more Bibles than any other type of book, followed by cookbooks, and children's books, which are also passed down.
There is so much to do in downtown Cincinnati anyway, but if you love old books and old buildings, don't miss this treasure! (I should get paid for this!)
The closing of our local home-owned bookstore earlier this year made it harder for me to fulfill my goal of supporting a brick-and-mortar store this time around. But there's a chain bookstore in the Mercer Mall (it replaced another chain outlet that had closed previously), and this weekend, I finally got out there for some shopping. I fulfilled my two-book purchase commitment (for myself, this time!), and was pleased to see that the store was pretty busy with shoppers.
I am going out today and hope to buy at least two books, but they may come from the Half Price Bookstore. Does that count? My second-childhood husband loves those picture search books (which are at least as challenging as the Where's Waldos)!
Sylvia, if the books are new and the Half Price Bookstore is a physical store, I'd certainly say that it counts!
It is a physical store, and they do sell new books, but the majority are used books, usually like new, and they also sell used videos, vinyl records, cds, and other fun stuff. Unfortunately, RC already had the search gooks I saw, so I didn't get to buy any today.
Books as Christmas gifts for a spouse (or for someone else) are a great idea, though; and hopefully later, you'll think of some that he doesn't already have. :-)
My bookstore-supporting challenge really had to wait until nearly the last minute this year; but I fulfilled it this morning, again at the bookstore in the mall. I was glad to see that once again, they were doing a brisk business!
Once again, I've recently met the challenge to support brick-and-mortar bookstores by buying at least two brand-new books a year in one! This year, I didn't leave it until the last days of December. :-)
I'm glad to say that I've once again fulfilled the challenge to buy at least two books a year from a physical bookstore! Though this year, as we've come down to the last week of December, it was, as some British Goodreaders might say, a bit of a close-run thing. :-)
Since I've accumulated so many piles of unread physical books by now, which are greatly backlogged, and I'm running short on space to put books, I decided not to buy books for myself to fulfill the challenge this year. So instead, I bought two books to donate to the Bluefield University library, where I work. (Barb and I also bought several books as Christmas gifts for family members; so the clerks at our local bookstore were probably pretty glad to see us coming. :-) )
