Trouble in Texas

Yesterday I moseyed down  to Laredo, TX to learn more about their bookstore drought drama.  I got so wound up expounding on the importance of bookstores (see yesterday’s entry ‘Who Needs Bookstores?  I Do!’) that I never got to the whole sad story.  The quarter million people who live in Laredo, TX were without a bookstore thanks to the corporate decision making of Barnes & Noble, who decided to close the B. Dalton Store in the local mall after 30 years on January 16, 2010.  The store was profitable but as part of a “strategic nationwide plan” the company choose to pull out of the city while school children wrote letters literally begging them to stay.  The next closest bookstore was in San Antonio, 150 miles away.  
The citizens sprang into action with the help of the Laredo Public Library, Texas A&M International University, Laredo School District and other community organizations and created “Laredo Reads”, a campaign to let the world know that even though they were immigrants and they were poor, they loved to read and they wanted to buy books.  

The city council passed a resolution supporting the campaign; their hope was to dispel the idea that Laredo was a backward, uneducated community.  Instead they wanted to send the message to corporate America that a bookstore in Laredo would not only be valued but it would be profitable.  Barnes & Noble actually agreed (about the potential profits) and said there was a possibility they might open a big box Barnes & Noble in the future.  If I lived in Laredo I wouldn’t be in a big fat hurry to spend my money at B&N after seeing their corporate conscious in action.  The Chamber of Commerce, Laredo Development Corporation,  politicians and even the Mall jumped in to offer their support and include statistics and testimonials that might lure a national store to Laredo.

When the bad news spread across the county the library started to see some action.  Lynn Blumenstein reported, in the Library Journal, that book donations came in from General Mills, Arby’s and Barnes & Noble along with some used books from a library in North Carolina.  The library got support for their plans to increase their leased book program and start offering downloadable ebooks.  The library also has  plans for two more branches and a bookmobile.  But still no bookstore.

And then...(you knew this was coming but how about a drum roll anyway) good news!  Books-A-Million is coming to Laredo and moving into a 3,000 square ft. space at the Mall - hooray!  Books-A-Million is the third largest book chain in the U.S. and operates over 200 stores in 23 states (there’s another new thing I learned tonight), they also sell books online at their very snazzy website.  The citizens of Laredo (and shoppers from Mexico) are breathing a sigh of relief and looking forward to more literary shopping.  In the meantime I suggest that they head down to the library do some reading while they wait.

p.s. The crisis also inspired the Library to open a bookstore in December 2010 called “Laredo Books and More”.  The store sells used and new books and is growing quickly.