What is the used-book market? It is for the most part a prosaic place: dingy, dusty, occasionally shady; yet there are rumors of ancient treasure, marvelous happenstance, and secrets of the dead and famous lining its walls. The richest and the poorest have their respective places in it, as do the in-between, sometimes unknowingly. It exists (as it always has) in bookshops, basements, and closets; yet also on computers and networks, in libraries and on lawns. It is a place that throughout its history has been looked upon with great nostalgia: it is eternally dying, its most glorious era always a few decades past. Yet, it continues to live. In fact, it is currently healthy and growing.
It is healthy and growing? We find this a bit hard to admit. In fact, it is terribly unromantic. What we find even more unromantic and objectionable is that its healthy new life is being lived on the internet, a new-fangled place teeming with teenagers, hoaxers and pornographers. Hardly the spot for the great cultural wealth in our cherished dusty volumes! How could they mix with such a crowd? Where will our marvelous happenstance happen if we must use a search engine? How will we ever stumble across the ancient treasure if it is perched atop a web-page for all to see? Our circumstantial bliss is gone! This cannot happen! Our books must remain where they were, in the keep of the old and the bearded, in a shop on the street, where our hands can paw and our imaginations can wander.
Yes this would be nice, wouldn't it? But, before we get too upset, let us look closer at what is happening. Perhaps the future isn't as terrible as we think, and the past might be different than we remember. In these blogs I would like to look at some common perceptions of used-bookselling, and try to sort the reality from the nostalgia.
Today I'd like to discuss the much bemoaned disappearance of independent bookstores, and the factors in their demise.
We must first make the distinction between the new and used book markets. When new bookstores were badly hit by the arrival of internet bookselling (among other things), used bookstores suddenly found themselves with a much expanded marketplace and opportunities for efficiencies that had never existed before. When the independent new bookseller had to compete with a big box retailer and an internet giant for the sale of a new Sue Grafton novel, our old and bearded friend was excited to finally find a buyer for an obscure book on Scandinavian fishing that had long lingered on his shelves. The used booksellers flocked to internet marketplaces, rapidly creating a large and efficient global book trade the likes of which they had only dreamed of in their catalog mailing pasts.
But still, we some used bookstores close their doors. Why? Consider this as a likely scenario: perhaps the old bearded curmudgeon we all miss so much wasn't as fond of us as we like to think. Why, he thinks, should he pay rent and utilities for this place for us to come in, molest his cat, mess up his shelves, stink up his bathroom, pester him with questions and then leave after dropping $10.36 on an old J.D. Salinger paperback and a gardening handbook? He has a guy in Japan who just spent $700 on a set of technical manuals that are stored in the back. Why not close the door, unplug the coffee machine, head to a cheaper spot and do what he loves most: hang out with his books and his cat with some peace and quiet? So, while a few storefronts closed, giving the general public the impression that the industry was suffering, the stores had in fact just moved into back rooms and warehouses, their public faces now visible through a modem connection only.
Some storefronts have not closed, however. If you still have some independent bookstores in your area, there is a great likelihood that most or all of them are used bookstores. But why have they not all moved into back rooms? First, because most of these booksellers really do love their bookstores. They love the customers, the community, the serendipitous moments, the magical things that we all love about bookstores. Second, because while their in-store sales might not be growing, they aren't doing so badly either, as they can still give the big box stores some competition for value and selection. Third, because in most cases they own the building. While rising rent for retail locations in urban areas is not the most exciting factor in the demise of the independent bookstore, it is a significant factor that is often overshadowed in discussions by stories of corporate greed and rising illiteracy. An increase in rent is usually the deciding factor when our favorite bookstores go out of business, whether used or new. A good portion of the stores that still exist today do so because they bought their buildings and were able to weather many a storm that would have forced them out of business if their rent was raised or they had to move.
Yet still, I would argue that the most significant factor in keeping these stores alive is the internet. Without it, rising rents, declining readership, and all of the other familiar scourges would have forced these stores out of business along with their counterparts in the new book trade. A Book Industry Study Group report stated that in 2006 brick and mortar used bookstores relied on the internet for 40% of their sales. That is a make or break percentage, and I believe that most used booksellers would readily admit that without the internet they would not have open stores. So, while we might not have the number and variety of bookstores that we had in the past, we still have some wonderful places to browse and explore, many of which are expanding and preparing for their futures. And for this we must begrudgingly throw a little thanks to that baffling source of all that we find objectionable: the internet.
Posted by: Adrienne Eaton