I’m sad today.
I’m not sad because the closing of Borders bookstores represents a seachange in publishing, which it most definitely does. I’m not sad because it means that digital books and online booksellers have grown big enough to warrant the closing of a chain bookseller that seemed like it would be around for an age. Indeed, I’m an eReader myself and, as a writer, I’m kindof psyched to be living in such an awesome time–a time that is going to bring new formats, new possibilities, and new excitements.
But I am sad because Borders holds a special place in my heart.
You see, when I was 16, I got my first summer job. The very best job a teenager with an obsession with romance novels and a caffeine addiction could get. I worked in the cafe at Borders in the Garden City mall in Cranston, RI. Behind that counter, when I wasn’t serving coffee and pastries, I read. I read like crazy. I read On the Road and Lord Byron and every Jane Austen novel. I read Bridget Jones’s Diary and every bit of chicklit I could get my hands on (as it was the age of Chicklit when I worked there). I read Edna St. Vincent Millay and Naked Lunch. And I read romance novels. Like. Mad.
As I read about the closing of the final 399 Borders stores (including the one in Garden City), I’m thinking about the quiet times in the store…late nights, when we would turn up the music on the loudspeakers and go through the calming, repetitive process of closing the store. Reshelving books, cleaning out the coffee pots, watering plants, cashing out, washing down tables and mopping floors before we’d all leave together, a small band of brothers turning out the lights and walking to our cars to head home.
But not before we’d talk about what we were reading that night.
So…thanks Borders, thanks for the memories. Thanks for the best first job ever. Thanks for stocking romance and putting the section near the cafe.Thanks for the employee discount. And, most importantly, thanks for the books.
July 18th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
I don’t know if it makes you feel any better, but I was in Garden City a few weeks ago and that particular Borders is still open. (I know it doesn’t make up for the demise of the chain as a whole, but maybe it’s a little bit of comfort?)
July 18th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Hi Meredith! I’m happy to hear it’s not closed yet…but they announced today that all remaining stores will be closed by September…so get in your last trip or two (and cross your fingers for a new bookstore in RI)!
July 18th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
I was in the age where you had to be 18 if you were to work at Borders. And it was such a popular job I was never called in for an interview. But I grew up with Borders. I have one of the first Borders rewards cards ever made. I shall miss this beautiful store.
July 18th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Sarah -
After my younger son graduated from college I cut back on my work hours. One day my best friend called and asked if I could help her out. She was the manager of the Waldenbooks, part of the Borders, in Wakefield, RI and said several of her part-time booksellers had graduated from URI and could I help her out a couple of hours a week to fill-in the shortage.
Instead of just a few weeks I ended up “helping her out” for 3 years and loved every minute. I finally deicded to change careers and now work for a financial firm but believe me it’s not as much fun as working in a bookstore.
Waldenbooks was one of the casulties of the Borders chain and closed just after Christmas last year. I’m now a Kindle user because I’ve a “real” Rhode Islander and would have to pack a lunch to drive north of the “Tower” (on Route 2) and Waldenbooks was our only bookstore.
I miss having “real” books where when I’m reading one of your stories I can turn the page of my favorite passages (my husband laughs and says I turn most of the pages) so I can re-read them often.
To booksellers every I send my thanks for great suggestions on different genres to get us readers to “experiment” and for having our favorite books waiting at the check-out for us the day they are released.
July 21st, 2011 at 10:39 am
How do you know that you have found a gifted writer? When you find yourself tearing up at the simplest story about their life that they write in a blog. :-)
Is it because these few lines is about how time passes? Or about how technology changes how we live our lives? Or because it reminds us of how we discovered the fantabulousness of Jane Austen’s writing at a school book fair in the 7th grade due to it being the only book that could be purchased for the price of $1 (which is all I had brought with me that day because I had forgotten about the fair). Or is it because it’s that time of the month? Who knows.
I have yet to buy a Kindle or any type of ereader. (I am holding on to the old ways for dear life. LOL.) It’s just something about having a paper back in my hands that I love, eventhough I generally buy books in etext form and down load to my computer. The ease of beig able ot buy books so readily with a Kindle would bo too much for my purse to handle.
July 21st, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Just the thought of that bookstore brings back memories of warm summer nights and the smell of coffee… My, how times change!