"The Bookstore’s Last Stand" -- NY Times »

unchartedbooks:

“For all publishers, it’s really important that brick-and-mortar retailers survive,” said David Shanks, the chief executive of the Penguin Group USA.

I’ll present this article with little context except to say that, in my opinion, books are books are books, and the difference between e-books and physical books is about the same as the difference between mass-market paperbacks and nice, new hardcovers. If a convenient, inexpensive, not-terribly-well-made-or-well-designed book is what you’re after, go with god. If you prefer something more aesthetically pleasing and you value the feeling of holding the physical book, showcasing your library to visitors and friends, and passing around a well-loved, well-worn, inscribed, marginalia-filled artifact, there’s room for you too. I sell the latter, but the former is still a damn book and I’m not getting my panties in a twist.

Just like there’s a market for both vinyl and pirated mp3’s (though the markets are far from equal), physical books and places to buy physical books aren’t going anywhere. That place may or may not be Barnes & Noble (hell, that place may not be Uncharted Books), but the idea of “book” is far larger and more important than a brand or a medium. Try to keep that in mind amid all the apoplectic doomsaying for the publishing industry.

And if physical books are something you value, buy them. They’re not going to stop making things that people buy.

book fetishism: one of my pet peeves as a librarian and human being