Used Bookstores - a Dying Breed

Walking down a street loaded with stores, galleries and restaurants recently, I came across a used bookstore that I didn't know existed. Being a great lover of reading and books, I had to go in. Since I was looking for a job, I asked if they might be hiring. The owner said that she was barely getting by so she couldn't hire anyone, but we talked. We discussed books and other bookstores in the area. She mentioned another store in the area that was closing and selling their stock for 50-75% off, as well as another used bookstore that had closed recently. She didn't say it, but the look in her eyes said that she was afraid she might be next.

Used bookstores are a great place for people to buy books who can't afford brand new cover prices. Online swapping is putting these stores out of business. While I'm a big fan of several online swap sites, since I don't have transportation to get to most used bookstores in the area, there's something to be said for walking into a store and browsing the titles. Feeling the books in your hand, seeing the condition before you commit and smelling that wonderful scent of book. Like any other business, these stores rely on us, the consumers, to stay afloat.

You never know what you're going to find when you walk into a used bookstore. The selection is often eclectic and the books have history. I've purchased books in used bookstores that had postcards from exotic locations in them, old photos of a smiling family, ticket stubs from a movie. Yes, these are someone else's memories, but it tells a little something about the history of the book, too. Someone who read my copy of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café went to see Beaches with someone; probably a girlfriend, maybe a best friend. I was also amused by the irony that tickets to a movie about the enduring power of friendship were tucked into a book on the same theme.

The mom & pop bookstore is all but dead, being driven out of business by larger bookstores that offer anything and everything a reader could want. Used bookstores are also on their way out, driven to closing because of online swaps and trading. I'm not saying that we should avoid those sites, but the next time you pass by a used bookstore, stop in and browse. They just might have that hard to find autobiography or hardcover novel that you've been trying to find for months.