An Elegy for Borders

As all the book-loving world surely knows by now, Borders Books and Music is going out of business.
The big black & Yellow signs are draped all over my local Bridgewater NJ branch:
LIQUIDATION SALE!
UP TO 40% OFF!
ALL SALES FINAL!
NO CHECKS-CASH, VISA, DISCOVERY CARD ONLY.

A great swarm of vultures who have probably never cracked a book in their lives but who just can't resist a black & yellow sign promising them deep savings, no matter what the product may be, have already begun to descend upon the stacks, running amok through the aisles and leaving chaos in their wake. A clerk told me the other day she has to spend three hours after closing each night just cleaning the place up and getting ready for the next day.
By the time you are reading this it will be all over.
Borders is no more.
And I am not happy about that.
I have never before in my life felt sadness about a store closing, but this is close to heartbreak.

In some ways, the Borders in Bridgewater has been near the center of my life for the last 17 years. I just can't believe it is not going to be there anymore. The store has often been my lifeline, in good times and bad. No matter what was going on, I could always think to myself, "well, at least I can stop at Borders for a while." My great refuge from the world. We do have a large Barnes and Noble nearby, but I'll get to that in a minute. I don't know if I can even explain it if you're not a Borders devotee, but it was simply the greatest bookstore ever in the whole history of the world.

The really sad part, of course, is that we seem to have come to the end of the age of bookstores. And maybe even libraries too. Someone was telling me the other night that in this day and age libraries are really just a waste of space, since the information is available and more easily accessible online. I did manage to point out the libraries are also used for studying, for community events, reading groups and storytimes, etc. I don't know if I quite convinced him.

And how could I explain about the joys of roaming through the stacks of books that no one ever checks out anymore, just picking up whatever strikes you at the time---a history of great fires in New York, the autobiography of Jack Benny, or the worlds greatest chess matches, to name just three I've come across recently. Sure, maybe it's costing a lot of money to house books that no one is much interested in anymore, but for some of us it's one of life's great pleasures. I mean, there must be more people than just me doing this! It's a shame that this seems to be something that is going out of the world.

Well, I do understand why this is happening. I myself own a Kindle reader, and I do order most of my books from Amazon. I really do believe that this is the wave of the future. But if we lose bookstores we are losing something in modern life that can't be replaced. At least not for book lovers. These days I tend to spend more and more time at home or visiting with family. As I have gotten older, I haven't been going out a lot. Borders was one of the few places I would make a point to visit a couple of times a week. And there is a sense of community among book lovers, like a place where all of us belonged. Without Borders, there's just one less reason for even leaving the house.

A word about Barnes and Noble: I don't much like it---except for the DVD section, which is excellent. But as a bookstore...better than nothing, I guess, but it is more a generic bookstore, like the old Marlboro and Waldenbooks, only on a much larger scale. Borders was always a brighter and more cheerful place, that seemed to be run by people who knew and loved books and reading. Barnes and Noble just doesn't have the same feel. I guess it was partly that there was way more books in Borders. If you were looking for a copy Moby Dick or A Tale of Two Cities in Borders, you could be sure of finding at least three or four editions of the book, a nice hardcover, a quality paperback, a special illustrated version. In Barnes and Noble, you get the standard issue Bantam paperback. No comparison.

And then there is the fact that Borders was always more roomy and inviting, and the decor was warmer and more cheerful...I don't know, but just about everyone will tell you the same thing. People are heartbroken over the closing. Maybe it is just something indefinable. All I know is, B&N just isn't going to be able to fill the gap.

As I said above, I have never before felt sadness over a store closing. This is a first.

And when I die, and arrive at the Pearly Gates, the first thing I'm going to say to St. Peter is, "Forget the harp...where is the local Borders around here?"And if he tells me, "But we don't have a Borders here," then I'll know I've gone to the other place instead.