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A Clean, Well-Lighted Third Place
April 1, 2007

Scott McLemee's recent article about independent bookstores is partly concerned with "Indies Under Fire: The Battle for the American Bookstore." This new documentary by Jacob Bricca details the struggles of three California bookstores fighting for survival against the big-box onslaught.

McLemee discusses what makes this documentary a must-see, and he also points out that Ray Oldenburg's "third place" (that space between home and work that helps us to form our communities) may be well served by big-box bookstores: after all, those chain institutions do carry not just the title you are seeking, but books you never knew existed, but that you discover you need (as an indie advocate in the film articulates). If you're a book lover simply browsing shelves, serendipity is usually a certainty: after all, you know that you need more books than the one you're currently seeking.

But... but... but... not everyone has the sublime (and I use that adjective deliberately) confidence of a bibliophile. Many readers I know long for guidance; they don't trust themselves to simply find a good book. Or they don't have time to scour the shelves for something fine. Maybe they know exactly what they like, but have no idea what other kinds of books or authors might satisfy their book lust (pace Nancy Pearl) . Those readers deserve a place where they can have a book placed into their hands with a few sincere words: "You'll love this; it's so much like Author X's best work," or "If you really want to understand Subject Y, you must read these two books."

Thank goodness there are still librarians (like Nancy Pearl), bloggers (like the Lit Blog Co-op), and Web sites (like, well, Publishers Weekly) that provide suggestions.

But... but... but... where is the "third place," then? No matter how interactive a Web site is (podcasts, message boards, online chats), it can't replace the feel of a bricks-and-mortar human meeting place. If it could, I maintain, there wouldn't be so many coffee-shop chains proliferating like proverbial rabbits on every street corner (in fact, one of my all-time favorite indie bookstores controversially tried to ensure its survival by allowing one of those chains to fasten onto it like a barnacle -- alas, in vain).

Therefore, I ask you: if you don't feel the lack of independent bookstores, is it because you're not reading? Or is it because you get your "third place" feel somewhere else? Or something else entirely?

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on April 1, 2007 | Comments (2)