Do you ever wonder why it is so easy to become desperately morose? Especially around the holidays (did anyone notice that yesterday was 24.6 seconds longer)? The shortest day of the near is also known as “Hump Day” for most folks affected by SAD.
And for no reason at all, or for a reason that would seem the most natural (or almost natural) end of things: like Borders’ High Street bookshops closing today.
The keeper of knowledge, the repository of intelligence (or unintelligence) these are what bookshops mean to me. They are a reflection of the tastes of a nation. A baramoter of a nation’s reading habits (and we did read some shite, didn’t we!). But now it stands empty…to become nevermore ( Project Gutenberg: Edgar Allan Poe)
Breaking it down this is what we know: 45 stores closing, over a 1,000 staff lose their jobs – possibly their livelihood. It’s never nice losing your job at Christmas … and Borders isn’t alone (official stats). Spare a thought for those people at this time of the year; their families too.
So what does it say when the general public swoop in on books (such as those like Borders used to stock), but not allowed to sell in some instances. Are we better off for it? Getting books on the cheap? Picking out what we like, all willy-nilly?
I like books lined up on bookshelves (face out, or spine in – whatever your pleasure) as much as the next person. But shouldn’t that be in pre-determined locations: libraries come to mind! And bookshops fall within that category too…as Helen Fraser (former MD of Peguin) once said (loosely): “books are meant to furnish our lives, not just our shelves…”
…so let’s spare a thought for the indy bookshops that will hopefully outlast the big players – there are plenty round, and they are all asking you to take their books off their shelves.
I’ll be signing off for the holidays, but more to come in 2010.
Happy Holidays to everyone,
here’s to a more positive New Year!!
