.
| Hearsay: |
As noted first last week here on Bookninja, a rash ofToronto bookstores are closing their doors. Janet Inksetter and Annex books gets some well-deserved, albeit too-little-too-late praise.
The writing was on the wall for Annex Books when "my long-suffering landlady came and hinted it was time to raise my rent," owner Janet Inksetter said. "I went into panic mode because I'm at the end of my limit for expenses. It clarified things for me."
In the tiny but well-organized store with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, you can see the length and breadth of Canada's literary and publishing history. All the best dead authors are there in vintage editions, from Susanna Moodie, Mazo de la Roche, John Glassco and Irving Layton to Hugh MacLennan and Charles Ritchie, along with many other writers still living. "People used to come in and browse. That doesn't happen so much any more," Inksetter said. "They come in looking for a specific book. If I don't have it, they don't go to the shelves."
Thanks again, Janet!
January 2006
December
2005
November
2005
October
2005
September
2005
August
2005
July
2005
June
2005
May
2005
April
2005
March
2005
February
2005
January
2005
December
2004
November
2004
October
2004
September
2004
August
2004
July
2004
June
2004
May
2004
April
2004
March
2004
February
2004
January
2004
December
2003
November
2003
October
2003
September
2003
August
2003
Bookninja © Copyright
The opinions expressed on this site are those of individual participants
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the site owners,
organizers, or other participants.
[powered by WordPress.]
November 29th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
“People used to come in and browse. That doesn’t happen so much any more,” Inksetter said. “They come in looking for a specific book. If I don’t have it, they don’t go to the shelves.”
Right. If people want a specific old or out-of-print title, they go straight to a bookseller such as Abebooks on the Web. Why waste hours browsing in the store when the bookseller might not even have the title?
However, if I find such a book online and I also find the bookseller is in my home town, I will order from that bookseller. I may even visit the store to pick up the book and save money on the shipping charge.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
I think the point, F, is that it didn’t used to be about “hours”.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
It didn’t used to be about hours with me either, Ninja #1. When I was an undergraduate student living at home with Mom and Dad, and when my living expenses were drastically lower than they are now, I used to spend days wandering through used-book stores. On Yonge Street. Near the university. Even in Bloor West Village.
(For you “foreign” readers, these are Toronto locations.)
But today I’m middle-aged and self-employed. I have far less discretionary income. I can’t afford the luxury of wandering through stores for hours on end in search of something that might not be there. Any kind of store. Including bookstores.
I don’t like the loss of book-browsing time my life either, but if I want to live in an over-priced city like Toronto, I have to accept it.