Tomorrow CBC will be discussing the closure of Chapters on Whyte and interviewing an unusual choice - no not people who operate bookstores in Edmonton today
not Wee Book Inn who was long in business when Chapters opened
not Edmonton Book Store which was also in business since long before Chapters opened on Whyte
not Alhambra Books which was been in business nine years before Chapters opened on Whyte.
not Audreys books , which has been thriving on Jasper Avenue since long before Chapters opened.
not members of the Greenwoods family whose store on Whyte Avenue was put out of business by Chapters on Whyte.
No, in an exciting (and perplexing) turn of events, CBC is interviewing two people who don't even operate brick and mortar book stores.
If i was interviewed as member of staff at Alhambra Books, here was i would say.
Sure there 's not many people in the store a any one time, except that time Saturday after noon two weeks ago oh my god you could not move! - but a love of books keeps the place going. And anyways as one person pointed out all through time there never have been great proportions of the people who read . It has always been an industry supported by the loyal few.
Food, clothes these are used by all the people every day.
Books are read by some number less than that.
It has always been that way and always those who love books really love books and bricks and mortar bookstores.
The chatty kathy part of CBC that is covering this tomorrow may perhaps have a secret agenda to up-playing the end of bookstores - readers are among the discerning critical minds that don't buy the fluff that daytime CBC doles out all too often. CBC would prefer if we saw that radio and TV conglomerate as the sole source of information. Then we would be easy game for the latest scare story or fantastical new concern. (see fluff and puff blog yet forthcoming).
Critical minds such as those sharpened by reading, those who habituate bookstores, are ones not gullible to swallow the CBC fluff and puff.
I am talking real bookstores, not ones whose main floor is mostly devoted to sweatshirts and gizmos, not ones who sell coffee, not those who offer a discount to a customer standing in their store if they not buy in their store but instead go home and order on-line.
Audreys does not do that nor do any of other other stores mentioned above. They operate in the same manner as bookstores have since the industry started.
You go in, browse the shelves and usually find what you want or find a pleasant surprise, something you never expected to find, something that will enliven your day, educate your mind, excite your imagination. You pay your money and take it home to enjoy, to love, to cherish, to share with others.
That is what a bookstore does!
Long live the bookstores!
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