Books and Bricks: How Independent Bookstores Are Saving America
Over the past few weeks, I attended multiple readings at a local independent bookstore, BookPeople of Moscow. The first was a showcase of our town’s university’s MFA faculty in which the professors read a mélange of works in fiction and nonfiction. Not long ago, I had the pleasure of listening to Cameron McGill, a poet and musician who teaches writing at Washington State University, read from his newly published chapbook Meridians. Seated on a folding chair between a wall of Young Adult novels on the left and children’s picture books on the right, I sat in transfixed silence as Cameron delivered a powerful and intimate reading.
In the face of the overwhelming societal trend toward electronic efficiency, independent bookstores such as BookPeople remain tucked in the corners of downtown blocks across America, refusing to die. Why is it that in 2020, independent bookstores are opening at a faster rate than they are shutting down?
In November of 2007, Amazon released its iconic e-reader, the Kindle. Less than four years later, by the spring of 2011, Amazon would be selling more e-books than hard copies at a rate of 105–100. As this trend continued and the popularity of e-readers grew, independent bookstores across the country were forced to ask themselves: what can we do? Lower prices, greater purchasing options, and ease-of-access all sound great to prospective consumers. Why would I spend twice as much at a local store for the same book I could buy online?
Against all expectations, indie bookstores have not only survived, but are thriving at decade-high rates. Following a decade and billions of Amazon purchases, we are only now starting to recognize the pervasiveness that Amazon and other tech giants have in our lives. The reaction in the literary community has been to double down locally and shift focus on what is being offered. A local bookstore will never be able to compete with Amazon’s prices, but they can offer a space for community interaction and artistic expression. Many independent bookstores are transforming into hybrid locations; along with the selling of books, they are coffee shops, wine bars, and event centers.
As phone applications and electronic devices become more and more ubiquitous, each of us is forced to ask our self: how much is efficiency worth to me? At what point does one choose inconvenience — higher cost, more time invested, less choice — in spite of what is cheaply and conveniently available? Independent bookstores are emblematic of the refusal to accept the invasion of tech companies as the status quo. While Amazon’s lack of brick-and-mortar storefronts make them hard to picket, local stores are silently protesting their dominance, one poetry reading at a time.
Independent bookstores are experiencing a recent resurgence because people are craving genuine connection. There is a point at which the decisions intended to maximize consumer convenience detract from other vital aspects of the customer experience. Look at Barnes & Noble as an example. B&N procured a massive selection of books and bought in bulk in order to minimize cost. They sold display space to publishers so that the promotional tables at the front of each store were stocked with the so-called hottest reads of the day. For a time, the Walmart method, as I’ll call it, worked, and independent bookstores situated near B&N shut down under the weight of their relative cost-inefficiency.
But what we learned in our freshman Economics classes — that an increase in demand follows a decrease in price — doesn’t always hold true. The sterile, inauthentic feel of places like B&N pushes out the possibility of experiencing what we desire from a brick and mortar bookstore: a place for human interaction that fosters a sense of belonging. After dominating the market for decades, B&N swiftly plummeted.
Our lives enter a vicious cycle when we buy into the idea that we can be made happier through the cheapening of a product or the minimizing of our input. Accepting this idea as reality leads us to undervalue what we have and overvalue what we don’t. It also gives companies like Amazon the ability to influence our lives to a staggering degree.
In a 2003 interview on the German television station ZDF, writer David Foster Wallace was asked if there are any means for rebellion against consumerism in America. He answered, “My guess is the forms of rebellion that will end up changing anything meaningfully here will be very quiet and very individual, and probably not all that interesting from the outside.” In 2003, the imminent infiltration of consumerism into American lives was already clear to Wallace. It will not be by repelling down tear-gas stained windows that the modern rebellion in America will take place, but in the accumulation of infinite individual choices that make up our society.
In the face of such complicated, uncertain, and dynamic issues, it can feel impossible to institute change. While it is true that we currently have the most information accessible to us in human history, conveniently packaged into a phone that fits comfortably in the pocket of your jeans or the palm of your hand, we are also at record levels of distrust when it comes to our perceptions of government and mainstream media.
According to the Pew Research Center, Americans trust their government less than ever before (17% of Americans believe that the government in Washington will “do what is right” in 2019 compared to 77% in 1964). The growing sense of distrust and dissatisfaction with the way things are handled by the federal government, whether defensible or not, is leading (in part) to the idea that our problems are too big to fix and that there is nothing we can do about them. This is why independent bookstores are so important. They are an example of a business that focuses on its community impact, not just on maximizing its profits and furthering its own interests.
It often feels like we have no choice, yet we must do our best to make intentional, thoughtful decisions. Through the food we buy and eat, the cars we drive (or don’t), and the forms of media we consume, we are signaling what it is we value. Independent bookstores are on the rise because a growing population of America is starting to recognize the impact of their choices and is actively choosing to direct some of their time and funds to a place that brings people together. They are recognizing the truth in the old adage, “Quality over quantity.” Bookstores are one example of a place that provides an atmosphere of connection and community, but we need more. And maybe the most powerful thing of all is that, if we recognize the importance of these spaces and the lack of them in our communities, we can create them together.
