"Being a retailer is challenging when the psychology of the market is making people think twice about opening their purses. How can we send our customers a message of encouragement? How can we get them to sit a spell, and spend their precious dollars in our stores? In large part it has to do with making sure that the psychology of fear isn't reflected in the way your business feels to your customers. . . . In fact, what your customers want--what they crave, actually--is a little relief from the bleak saturation of the 24-hour news cycle. They want comfort. They want nurturing. They want advice they can trust. They want ideas to make it better. They want a warm retreat in a dark, cold world. They want, in fact, exactly what you have to offer."--Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, from her article, "Bookselling in an Uncertain World" in Toolbox, ABC's e-newsletter for frontline children's booksellers (via Bookselling this Week).