Judy Stoddart, left, and Bob Stoddart, owners of H Q Books, say there has been more interest than usual in their bookstore for this time of year, but add that their small book exchange store can’t begin to replace services that the libraries provided. At right is regular customer Shirley Theel of Central Point. (Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli)Bruce Budmayr has seen plenty of "Save our Libraries" buttons around Medford's Barnes & Noble Booksellers over the past few days.
"For people who like to read, libraries are just a fabulous place for that," Budmayr, the store manager, said Tuesday. "With the libraries closed, they're going to the next-biggest place with a lot of books and they tend to gravitate to us."
Barnes & Noble, Southern Oregon's largest bookstore, took a sales hit when Jackson County's library system locked its doors last Friday.
"When they closed, we lost one of our best customers," Budmayr said. "I'd say we're the first to want them to open right back up. There's not a lot of margin on books. When you buy bulk quantities you can do better locally than paying a publisher to do the shipping."
Fallout from the library closures is apparent at many other local bookstores, used and new alike.
Advertisement | |
"Some are more organized," Stoddart said. "Way back after the turn of the year people started thinking 'I know this is going to happen, and where am I going to go now?' "
Many scoped out used bookstores, looking for those that best suited their wants.
"People have been checking us out both by foot and phone," said Stoddart, who focuses on current paperbacks. "We were getting inquiries about our trade policies. Some of our old traders who have been making use of the library are dipping their toes back into the used business."
Stoddart and others said there won't be enough large-print books on the secondary market to go around for seniors who depended on the library for such volumes.
"People have told me 'Hey, I bet you'll have good business thissummer,' " Stoddart said. "Maybe we will, but I don't feel good about it. Actually, I'm sickened by it. We probably will see some increase. I know it's been a very busy first quarter. But if you can't afford to buy a new book, you still might not be able to afford it used at half price."
Nonetheless, the reading public is adjusting.
"I think people who can afford it, will buy new books and trade them," Stoddart said. "The people who can't are out of luck."
She cited one client who calculated what he would pay in taxes if the proposed library levy on the May 15 ballot were to pass.
"He had figured out how much his taxes would increase," Stoddart said. "He told me: 'For that money, I would rather buy what I want to buy and then trade them in.' "
Older readers have been checking the possibilities at Waldenbooks in the Rogue Valley Mall.
"We're getting a lot of elderly customers who are missing going to the library all the time," said store manager Patty Allen. "We've seen a few more people, but our foot traffic is heavy whenever there are heavy times at the mall."
Barnes & Noble stores don't release sales figures or measure foot traffic through the doors, but Budmayr said there have been more people in the store in recent days.
He said Barnes & Noble won't be able to fill the browsing void left by the library closures.
"The library did a great job of filling that need," Budmayr said. "Sadly, we can't fill that for them, we have to sell. It's OK to read a few pages, but we encourage folks to buy a book and take it home and make it theirs."
Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com.
