Current mood: contemplative

I read with interest today that Borders Books are struggling - so badly, they are trying to find somebody to buy them out, rather than file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

They also acknowledge that it’s unlikely they will find any rival booksellers with the hundreds of millions it would take to bail them out.

What saddens me is that Borders,  Barnes and Noble and Amazon are all responsible for the death of small bookshops everywhere. Every last Dutton’s has now vanished in California. In fact, I ran into Mr. Dutton at the bank yesterday (ironically) and I told him, "My dog and I miss coming into your store."

He dropped his head, but not before I saw the misery in his eyes. "Don’t make me feel worse than I already do," he muttered before limping off to his car. I felt bad, reminding him of his recent past, but it’s staring him in the face every day because his lovely North Hollywood store - right across the road from the bank - is now another homebody store. Yeah, like we need more of those, right?

Mr. Dutton told me the day his store closed that he couldn’t compete with the likes of Borders and Amazon and that ill health exacerbated his desire to shut his doors. I watched him become increasingly hunch-backed (the world on his shoulders, that’s for sure) and now what. Border’s is going to close?

So then what? Where do we go to buy books? Like the music stores now long gone, are we going to be left with no place to feed our need for culture?

I sure hope not...unless it means we might see the resurgence of the Little Bookseller...that I hope will happen...

Aloha oe,

AJ

Currently listening : Po'okela Chants By Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu Release date: 13 May, 2003