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Comment by beagledude | Hacker News Reader

definitely going to suck to have a world where you can't go chill out somewhere and check out some new books and magazines. Not to mention 10,000 more jobs gone

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Borders closing != no more bookstores. They'll survive and morph into even more fun places to hang out and browse content. The reason why borders closed is because the atmosphere wasn't conducive to just hanging out. I always wanted to leave as soon as I walked into one. I don't get that feeling at cool local bookstores or even Barnes and Noble.

A lot of Borders problems have nothing to do with the bookstore business itself. They've been horribly mismanaged for many years.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/what-wen...

I personally preferred our local Borders stores over the Barnes and Nobles. They usually had more titles in stock and were a little nicer furnished. But they started to go downhill about 2 years ago, with more and more empty space, damaged carpets, trashed bathrooms, etc.

How about the library? Many of them even sell food.

Lots of new books, magazines, and it's cheaper to boot. Some of them are really beautiful too.

It says something about our culture that we don't even consider going to the library to get a book. I think we are so demanding and particular, that the thought of not getting what we want, when we want, is too much to bear and we would rather spend the cash.

Or conversely, we want to support the author by buying their book. If anything, the library lends to the entitlement mentality, not the bookstore.

Interesting thought, but I don't agree. Maybe I'm selfish but never once have I thought about the author when I'm buying a book. Nor have I heard or read anything from anyone saying "You know what, I'm not going to get that book at the library. I'm going to pay for it so the author is fairly compensated."

That was the same for me until social media came along and I was able to talk with authors I liked. Either way, I'm not sure going to a bookstore and buying a book says anything about culture other than people are used to buying things so they can keep them.

I wonder if Georgia's PINES libraries would make a good model for other states: http://www.georgialibraries.org/public/pines.php

40+ million books and other media loaned each year and 10 million things to loan. All with a single library card at almost any library. They're even talking about adding Kindle books to the collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Information_Network_for_...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_(software)

Our library is a hangout for homeless men who use the public computers to look at porn and then go masturbate in the bathrooms.

I don't know why anybody is voting this comment down. This describes my local library to a "T". You wouldn't dare allow your children to use the restroom unescorted for fear of what they might encounter. Also, the furniture and carpets are infested with fleas. At least with a commercial establishment the owner has some control over the environment.

I feel bad for both of you that have such libraries. But I think most people are not in that situation (which is perhaps the reason for the downvote).

Just about all the libraries I've been in have been really nice places.

I like the idea that someone would downvote a comment based on the idea that "my library isn't like this, therefore these guys are trolling". Who knows. I've mostly seem wonderful libraries in the US, especially in Pittsburgh, but I'm sure plenty of places have their problems. There would always be a few bums asleep in the Carnegie (discretely, mind you).

Yup. The downtown library in my town is the same way; my wife refuses to go inside. I usually just have books transferred down to the library close to my house rather than deal with that branch.

The library in my city (in the Netherlands) is open from 10am until 5 pm on weekdays (one evening a week until 7 pm), on Saturday from 10am until 3 pm and on Sunday from 1 pm until 5 pm. With budget cuts coming, they're going to close completely on Sunday soon.

With opening hours like that, who can go to the library? Pensioners, and every now and then a lost student who needs something from the local history archive. It's ridiculous, it's a huge, fairly beautiful building too, and 75% of the time it's empty.

Oh and coffee (tiny, 4 US fluid ounces! be sure not to pay attention when you drink because it's gone before you know!) costs 2 euros (2.8 USD). Don't spend an afternoon there, it'll set you back a tenner.

There are always the locally owned, independent bookstores. If any are left...

There's usually a really good indi book store right where the borders are(or used to be). Their tactic was to move in near the best, most popular store in each areas. I'm glad they're gone.

That's what they did here. The indy looked at what he was facing and didn't even bother. He sold his inventory and closed down before he lost his shirt.

That was over a decade ago; now that Borders is gone, closed last fall. B&N is the only real bookstore left in the area. There are a couple of independents but they have very limited inventory and seem to make their living selling a lot of accessories, pens, and stationery.

That last part of your statement is important. B&N and Borders drove a pretty large # of indy bookstores out of business (and Wal*mart killed a few more as I understand it, going out of their way to increase stock in certain areas until the Indies bought it, then going back to normal book habits).

I hope this event helps cause a resurgence in the indy stores. I need to make it to the local Tattered cover soon, though I plan to make it for GRRMs signing end of this month.

Good to see a mention of the Tattered Cover, as they actually have 3 locations. There was a Talk of the Nation segment[1] that covered independent bookstores, and how they are coping today just a few weeks ago (the Tattered Cover owner was guest).

[1]http://www.npr.org/2011/06/30/137529480/how-to-make-it-as-an...

Yeah one in Denver (I used to work next door to it) one in HR, and I can't recall where the third is.

I'll have to listen to that later, thanks for the link.

A lot of the ones I went to as a kid closed because of Borders and B&N.

Now that one of the big companies are gone, would this mean more independent shops are on the way? I hope so.

For me, growing up in Ann Arbor, Border's was the locally owned, independent bookstore. Then one day in the 90s, living in Palo Alto, I read that a local, independent movie theater (the Varsity) was closing down to make room for -- wait for it -- a Borders. That was the first I knew they had become a chain.

A strange journey: from local indie, to indie killer, to dead.

I'm really concerned about the Varsity now that Borders is going for good.

I don't know whether the building has any historical protection, however, I wouldn't be surprised if it disappears given the suddenness of the Cal Ave tree snafu a couple of years back.

I remember that.

For those that don't know, California Avenus is part of 'old' Palo Alto, and has a bunch of boutiques, restaurants, and cafes. It was lined with shade trees that had been there since the city had been founded, and was overall a very nice place to be.

A few years back, the city decided to, uh, beautify the area by cutting down all the trees, and this happened almost overnight. The street now feels like a seedy part of LA, and is nowhere as nice a place to be, thanks to the local government.

Off-topic, but there's a fantastic bagel shop near the corner of California and El Camino that I highly recommend.

I thought that sounded familiar...

http://www.paulgraham.com/californiaavenueoaks.html

On topic, i think the Stanford U on-campus bookstore is the only good technical bookstore in the SF to Mountain View corridor now

I would donate to a nonprofit if one were formed to buy out that particular location and continue operating it as a bookstore.

Powell's in portland is great. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Powells_Books

Oddly enough, the two Borders that were left in our town were ex-local shops Borders bought out a while back (all their own shops closed first).

I wouldn't worry. First I think Barnes and Noble is more likely to survive with Borders out of the way. But even if the local book market disappeared completely I think someone would pop up and fill the need for "a place to chill out" (as you put it).

You already see that now with Coffee Shops, Internet Cafes and so on. We have a free market system and a free market system is based on there being an entrepreneur for every need.

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