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There are times when it is funny, but for the most part it is a mystery to us how after seven years in business customers still don’t know we are here. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I didn’t know a bookstore was here.” Maybe people are not as observant as they used to be? Perhaps three years with an awning that was far from bookish related (Valley Furnishings) didn’t help? Or we are cornering the market on obscurity and being a hidden gem? Which I’m told is hipster gold. Hello hipsters? Yeah we have gold, in fact Mentone is a goldmine. So where is our Gold Rush of California proportion? We are waiting with smiles…and books.
Bookstores are not dying. They have broken the internet, so to speak, or more accurately they have overcome their prophecy, that admittedly I and many others proclaimed years ago at the onset of the eReader. Books are resilient. They are made of tougher stuff than people give them credit for. I never thought books would die, but if you were around at the beginning of shop days you may remember the eReaders vs. The Real Thing article I wrote for our (now defunct) Newsletter. I had an outlook motivated by fear and of a progressive world wherein technology gets bigger, better, and faster. Real books are not what many would deem “of the day” or “trendy”. That is to say people who are not bibliophiles or avid readers. Books knew better all along and they stayed calm (still do) while many rushed around in panic as the end was surely in sight any day.
My article wasn’t necessarily a doom and gloom piece, but a pros and cons look at the technology people were eager to jump on board with. I think I feared a loss in interest, but reserved my hope, and
even faith, in the readers of the world that no matter what books, of the paper variety, would be held in high esteem, by some, forever. I still hold those beliefs to be true.
One friend at the time remarked, “Hell will have to freeze over before Maddie gets an eReader.” I’m certain hell is still there, hot as ever, and I own an eReader. I even have changed my stance on Audiobooks (that’s a story for another day). I don’t mind, at this time and for this purpose ALONE (I’m terrible when it comes to being wrong), admitting I was wrong about eReaders.
There is space in my life for both. Have I given up reading paper books? No. Have I stopped buying real books? My mother probably wishes at times I had and someday my own house might question my sanity (House: Um, Maddie you think you are getting all of those in me? Girl, please.), but no I have not stopped buying paper books. I read. I read and try to be an unbiased reader. I am a non-denominational, non-format-judger, diversity seeker (newbie), reader. My head spins sometimes when I think about all the books and all the knowledge I have accumulated in my digital and real-world library. It spins with all I want to learn and feast my mind on. Can’t I just read all day? (haha another story, for another day)
My point is this: Some people may read the first paragraph and immediately jump to a few conclusions. One being, bookstores are dying. Please don your sack clothes and grab your signs on the way out, the people of the world may want to hear your message. I’m a little hurt that you want to tell me those things, scratch that…there is nothing little about it. I once wrote another piece for my personal blog, “When you tell me my Baby is ugly”. I may link to it as long as there is nothing too scathing in it. However, to sum it up, the Bookstore is my Baby. We put many hours of love, blood, sweat, and tears into the shop. Looking for books for the shop sometimes feels like we are bloodhounds on the scent of the next book buying frenzy. (Isn’t that a lovely visual?) There is nothing easy about running your own business, except the ease of sharing your passion with your fellow human and that human is so exuberant they could light the sun. That is easy. That is joy. That is what makes all the time and effort worth every penny. Books aren’t dying. Books depend on you to read them. You haven’t stopped reading, have you? I mean you’re reading this article if you’ve gotten this far and if you have gotten this far it means you follow one of our various social media platforms, and if you are following us it means you have mild to severe bibliophile-ism. No worries, there is a cure for that and you are doing it now by reading this ‘note’.
Our job may be harder some days (i.e. figuring out why after seven years people still don’t seem to know about us), but it doesn’t mean we are going the way of the dinosaur. But you know dinosaurs are now housed in museums, and millions of people from around the world flock to see their BONES, and some of those millions of people even pay to read books and watch movies about them…..so perhaps that is a poor comparison because who wouldn’t want to be remembered that way after their deaths? If you say no, than this entire speech has fallen on the wrong ears and that is sad day my friend, a sad day indeed. (wink)
It does mean we keep trying and we keep remembering those customers whose exuberance “could light the sun”. It means writing an article/note/post like this that not only encourages you, but encourages me as the writer as I write it. New things. Big things. Strange things. Keep trying, keep doing. Stop telling us our baby is ugly (you know who you are).
As a side note, if you were not one of the people whose conclusion drawn from the first paragraph was we are dying, first I would like to say GOLD STAR! Second; if not daily, we hear at least once a week how bookstores are dying FROM CUSTOMERS, IN THE STORE SHOPPING, TO OUR FACES, and even in a conversational baiting tactic. I think these customers want collaboration on their ‘earth shattering’ wisdom and theories. We aren’t buying what you are selling folks. In all fairness I think these customers A. are not bibliophiles (why you are in a bookstore I don’t know) and B. often mistake Freddy or I for employees who don’t so much care for the business as we do for our weekly paycheck (haha paycheck, right), as I know some employees in chain stores can resemble such behavior. These same customers like to tell us they buy their books on Amazon. I’m glad people know how to be honest, but perhaps after honesty we should learn tact. Amazon is nice, I’m happy it exists, but if you play monopoly you should know monopolies are bad, competition is good. (If you read that last sentence slowly and loudly like someone talking to another person who might not understand them, I read it that way too…oops.) Let’s not make Amazon the true bad guy by making it the monopoly monster it is becoming. Again, baby = bookstore = don’t tell me it is ugly. How about shop local = your baby is cutest baby I’ve ever seen! (I’m not inserting sarcasm here because, girl you think I’m being sarcastic? Please.)
The Long and the Short of it
- I am not a short winded writer. I bet you didn’t guess that one!
- eReaders and Paper Books can coexist peaceful in your life. We don’t mind. Have you seen the quote on our wall, that’s perhaps going to take up permanent residence? It’s already been there for almost 2 years. “Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.” ~Stephen Fry
- We are human too and sometimes our discouragement needs to be voiced and maybe what you read here was a little discouraging to you. Or maybe it has stirred in your heart the desire for action? Not to buy books from us necessarily, but to support local businesses more and to do so creatively. You can be a walking billboard! Tell your friends (we know many of you do) about what Mentone has to offer! No seriously drag your friends if you must (wink).
- You can think someone’s baby is ugly, but maybe you should refrain from telling the mother it is ugly. I hear the “mama bear” syndrome is real and REAL SCARY. Let’s just not, right let’s not tell mothers their precious bundles are ugly. We can all agree BAD IDEA, right? Right.
