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LitNotes: Warm Fuzzy Edition
January 18, 2008
It Might Just Be a Canadian Thing: In The Toronto Star, Philip Marchand writes that libraries are going strong, and in part that's because "A case can be made that the public library is the example of the third space." Interestingly enough (since there was also a piece this week about the decline of British libraries), one strategy that is working for Canadian libraries is to foster different kinds of groups -- not necessarily book groups, either. One librarian says "Once you get them, one thing leads to another. They come, they're in the space, they're in the environment, resources are at their disposal. It's a positive experience."
Although This Is Definitely US-Based: Bookstore sales were up 7.5% in November, beating the overall retail jump of 6.7%. Of course, people might just have finally figured out the magazines are better at the bookstore...but since I'm an eternal and cock-eyed optimist, I'll hope that this means Steve Jobs is wrong and people really still are reading.
And There's Even Good News from the Indies: This Seattle Times letter to the editor urges readers to do their due diligence before assuming all independent bookstores are dead in the water. Of course, the writer, JB Dickey, owns the Seattle Mystery Bookshop -- and genre-focused stores, in my own due diligence and experience, tend to survive better. But perhaps that means they have lessons to teach general-interest indie stores?
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on January 18, 2008 | Comments (2)
