A Space for Bookstores

I’ve been writing about all kinds of book-related themes this year, including libraries and making space for reading. I’ve made reading a priority again in my life, and I’ve fallen into so many amazing stories, and have been introduced to so many amazing authors!

But I haven’t touched upon bookstores, specifically.

They really are glorious but have become a bit fragile with the introduction of e-readers and Amazon.

I worked at Barnes and Noble for over eleven years; full-time for nine of those years, and part-time during graduate school.

I was there right during the Harry Potter craze and loved every moment of the parties and costumes and midnight release dates. I adored watching a love for reading take hold and blossom with each passing book that Rowling created.

It was remarkable to see both young and old, Democrat and Republican, east coast and west coast, find commonality through the lens of a boy under the stairs! We cried and laughed and gasped together for all those years that we followed Harry, Ron and Hermione through the halls of Hogwarts.

It was truly a humbling and remarkable experience to be a part of.

I am grateful!

And I think about my time at B&N every time I walk through the doors of a bookstore. It doesn’t happen as often now. I have mostly switched over to the Library. But for my Birthday, I got a gift card to Barnes and Noble; so yesterday, I found myself at the bookstore, card in hand!

A bookstore is a space to get lost. It’s a space to find. It’s a space to expand and imagine!

Nothing can replace picking up a book, skimming through its pages, observing its cover, and reading about its author.

Yes, I do have a Fire and I do read e-books. But the Fire will never replace the bookstore for me.

Ever.

I still adore walking through those doors and entering a place where booklovers unite, and the cares of the world fall away…if only for a moment!