Another End of an Era

Several newspapers are reporting that Borders Books is closing all 399 stores that are still left in the United States. They closed several stores last winter in an effort to come through their bankruptcy and find a new buyer, but all attempts have failed. It is with mixed emotions that I read of their demise. I have a lot of memories of Borders Books. Forty years ago, when we moved to Chicago, there were few if any large book stores. Many towns in the northwest suburbs had small bookstores (I remember fondly the one on Rte 120 on the way into McHenry), but it was exciting to go to a large book store and see all the choices they had. When I started teaching in the gifted program in the early 1980's, I taught with Michelle Weber at the middle school. She was an amazing teacher and I learned a lot about teaching exceptional children from her, Lorraine Plum, and Marie Plozay. Michelle's (now former) husband was an accomplished artist in stained glass. Every year, the Oak Brook Shopping Center had a juried art show that he was invited to. So each summer, Ann and I would drive to Oakbrook Center to see the art show and to go to the Borders Bookstore there that was one of the few in Illinois. The drive took about an hour, but it was a summer ritual to go to OBC. And we spent a lot of money we didn't have on books of all kinds: science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and math books for the most part.    

Unfortunately, as more and more Borders and Barnes and Nobles moved into the Northwest suburbs (like Deer Park and Crystal Lake which are a fifteen minute drive), the small bookstores couldn't compete. And so instead of having more options because of Borders, we now have fewer options, which is really sad.  And now we don't have Borders either.    

Now you might wonder why a faithful Kindle e-book reader like me would care about bookstores since most of my books come from an online store. Well, I still buy a lot of books at bookstores. Probably twenty a year. Ann and I went to the bookstore on Randall Road this week and I bought the new Games magazine and a large anthology called Happily Ever After:   

It consists of 33 retellings of classic fairy tales by noted fantasy writers like Neil Gaimin, Gregory Maguire (who wrote Wicked), and Charles DeLint. It has been interesting to read, and yes it does come on Kindle, but it is nice to have a book in hand every so often. Other than Jujy Fruits, reading is my only real vice. So I do spend a lot of money on books, both electronic and paper.   

Nathan's first job while in college (not counting the job he had setting up for the nuclear waste removal demonstration - I'll let him explain that job in the comments if he wants) was at the main Borders on Michigan Avenue on the near north side of Chicago. It was a great location, right on the Mag Mile, in the same block as the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop, which had great hot chocolate in the winter. Nathan would get off at midnight and ride his longboard for the three miles home to his apartment. He said he was going fast enough that he didn't notice the bad neighborhoods. And most nights he wouldn't mind getting mugged just for the novelty. Working at Borders Books was a terrible job. You were graded on how many people you could trick into giving their e-mail address. If you didn't get enough, you were put on probation for a month. So we started sending Nathan e-mail addresses we made up to put into the system. For a week I had an e-mail address at gmail, then canceled it and opened another with a different address. Same with every other e-mail host out there. He met some people at Borders that are still friends, but he's glad to be out of a retail job. It is counter-intuitive, but if you love books, don't work at a book store. At least not a big box bookstore, because a love of books just gets in the way. Especially when someone asks you for a recommendation and you've been told you have to push the latest  Danielle Steele bestseller. It's probably not the same at Quimby's Bookstore on North Avenue, but they only have four employees, so it's hard to get a job there.    

So I am sad to see the end of Borders Books, but am hoping that some smaller specialty bookstores might pop up in the next few years to fill the void. Maybe a bookstore like the Centuries and Sleuths book shop in Forest Park that specializes in histories, biographies, and mysteries. If a bookstore specialized in science fiction, mysteries, and math books, I think I could stock it all by myself. And I wouldn't have to be thinking of going to IKEA to get another bookcase for the basement.