Last month, internet guru Clay Shirky shared ideas for how to save local bookstores. The territory he staked out for them is remarkably similar to the territory libraries are struggling to claim. It’s fascinating that Shirky didn’t mention libraries in his 1,900 word essay, despite his hunch that a non-profit entity might be required to deliver the value he articulated.
The local bookstore creates all kinds of value for its community, whether it’s providing community bulletin boards, putting rocking chairs in the kids section, hosting book readings, or putting benches out in front of the store. Local writers, harried parents, couples on dates, all get value from a store’s existence as a inviting physical location, value separate from its existence as a transactional warehouse for books.
The core idea is to appeal to that small subset of customers who think of bookstores as their “third place”, alongside home and work.
A small collection of patron saints who helped keep a local bookstore open could be cheaply smothered in appreciation by the culture they help support.
Treating the old side-effects as the new core value would in many cases require non-profit status. This would push small stores who tried it towards the NPR model, with a mix of endowment, sponsorship, and donations, a choice that might be anathema to the current owners.
• Good idea about the NPR model…
• Photograph by Suki Dhanda
