I’ve been following the saga of bookshop chain, Borders, for the past year or so. During that time it seems to have lurched from one crisis to another, and now – according to this article on theBookseller.com – the end could be dangerously close for the troubled store.
Now I am and always will be a fierce supporter of independent bookshops, but the death of any place that supplies books to readers is a tragedy, whether the supplier be a small, family-run shop, or a vast chain of megastores. To me, the book is the important thing, and how those books are supplied is a secondary – if still important – consideration.
Yes, in an ideal world all books would be bought and sold at a thriving network of local, indie bookshops. Every town would have its own shop, staffed by book lovers who could make honest, personal recommendations, and who knew their products better than anyone.
But it’s not an ideal world. I live nearly 100 miles from my nearest indie bookshop, and 50 miles from my nearest chain bookstore – a Waterstone’s. I have a small WH Smith with a tiny book section in my town, but that – aside from an excellent little second-hand bookshop – is it.
While I’d love to have an independently run store near me to be loyal to, I don’t, so my choices are buying online, or making a 100 mile round trip to purchase a book. Most of the time I’ll buy online, but whenever I visit the closest city to me, Inverness – about 70 miles away – the Waterstone’s and Borders shops will always be my first port of call. I’ll always come away with at least one book. Usually I’ll leave with several.
Both shops are staffed by some of the most helpful and knowledgeable bookshop staff I’ve ever met, and I can be sure of getting great service when I walk into either one. To think that one of these shops may soon be a thing of the past is an unhappy thought, and I for one will miss Borders if it goes.
Of course, the demise of Borders (if it does actually happen) may well provide a massive boost for indie bookshops across the country, which is no bad thing. But for me, and tens of thousands like me who have limited or no access to other bookshops, the death of Borders will be a sad day indeed, and will lead to even more book spending being done online instead of on the High Street.
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