Today Borders announced that it was shutting down all its remaining stores. Borders was never big in any of the places I’ve lived. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been in one, which probably makes me lose a lot of book nerd cred, especially since I may never go in one. Actually, that’s a lie. I’ve been in several Waldenbooks stores, and they’re owned by Borders.
The loss of a major bookstore like Borders is more than the loss of a big company. It’s the loss to the entire book community, whether you’ve visited a Borders location or not. Bookstores are where many of us continued to pursue our love of books after experiencing that first spark, supporting our favorite writers so they could keep creating new stories for us to get lost in. We save up our money and look around the bookstore, touching the crisp spines of the new books to figure out which new book we’re going to take home with us today. There’s something about opening a brand new book for the first time, which may be why I pick up books I’ve already read in a bookstore just to remember what opening it new was like.
Bookstores are magical, and even as the world transitions to ebooks and the remaining bookstores face competition, the traditional bookstore will always have a place in my heart. Borders, you will be missed.