The WallStreet Journal reported late today that Borders Bookstores will be sold to liquidators. All of the Borders and Waldenbooks stores will be closed, and the act of liquidation may begin as early as Friday of this week. Borders was the second largest bookstore chain. But more than that, it was often the only bookstore left in communities, such as the stores in Decatur and Matoon, Illinois, where readers truly live and truly read books. The physical kind. The kind you can curl up with, turn down the pages of, scrunch up, display on bookshelves, reach for again and again. The kind you can talk about with others. The kind that, sometimes, build communities, make us laugh, inform us, challenge us. As a writer, I mourn the passing of bookstores, not only in terms of commerce, but also because bookstores are places where writers can meet their readers, promote each others' books, and see their own titles next to others' - and feel a part of the larger world of writing and literature. Modern technology affords us, writers and readers, many benefits. Ebooks bring an immediacy and affordability that is exciting and only just beginning. Websites, blogs, and social media do bring writers and readers closer. But nothing can take the place of a bookstore. Farewell, Borders. You will be greatly missed.
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