"There's a nice bookshop in Hudson, Wisconsin, called Chapter2Books.... And all 842 square feet of it is struggling," wrote Wendy Welch, co-owner of Tales of the Lonesome Pine bookshop, Big Stone Gap, Va., on her store blog Saturday in a post headlined "A Bookstore in Wisconsin/Minnesota Needs Our Help." Welch is also the author of The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap (St. Martin's).
Chapter2Books co-owner Sue Roegge said that while she understands people think Amazon is cheaper, "Cheap is not cheap. Cheap books = no indies no story hour for the babies at the shop = no support for local authors = no writing groups = no forum for national authors to come to town = no special, hand picked books, just bestsellers you can find anywhere -= no one to personally make a connection with your reluctant reader = no indie store participating in chamber and town events, etc. etc. etc. Is that download on Amazon really worth it?"
Roegge called the bookstore "our prayer to the universe," noting that her husband, Brian, "spent 30 years in banking, and then we got to do this. We advise customers and listen to their needs and all the things you talk about in your book, Wendy, and yet, now.... I'm mad, I'm sad, I'm frustrated, I'm devastated, I'm heartbroken, I'm terrified."
From Virginia, Welch asked: "Can we afford to lose another small town store--a BOOKstore--folks? Do we really want another one to bite the dust?" She called on readers to share information about Chapter2Bookstore "to boost morale--and spread the word that they're standing, ready, to serve booklovers along the St. Croix River."
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Bookseller helping bookseller update: Hurricane Sandy devastated Bank Square Books, Mystic, Conn., last fall, and in an effort to provide some assistance with recovery efforts, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn., enlisted "Scout," its Espresso Book Machine, to publish The Independent Bookstore-Why It Matters. To date, 73 copies have sold, with 100% of the proceeds going to Bank Square Books.
"Because we know first-hand how important independent booksellers are to the community they serve, we asked our readers why they cherish their local bookstore and how reading has changed their lives," R.J. Julia noted. "The touching responses we received--both creative and sentimental in nature--moved us and were compiled into a special book."
