Marilyn and Connie Brooks

All across the country, there are signs that Americans are waking up to the true meaning of worth, and the value of institutions like bookstores and libraries. In a Wal-Mart world, the idea advanced by economists and politicians is economy of scale – bigger and cheaper, at all costs, by any means. This has destroyed millions of jobs,  devastated communities all across the country,and been  a catastrophe for individuals, small businesses, libraries, neighborhood pharmacies and grocery stories, doctor’s offices, farms and the very idea of community.

Bookstores and the people who love them are fighting back. Author Ann Patchett has opened Parnassus, a bookstore in Tennessee when she realized there was suddenly no local bookstore. Lisa Sullivan has re-opened Bartleby’s Books in Wilmington, Vt. after Hurricane Irene devastated the town and her bookstore (her other bookstore was destroyed in a Brattleboro, fire last year.)  She sold nearly a third of her stock in two days. And journalists are waking up to the fact that e-books and the end of Border’s does not mean the end of bookstores – Forbes and Businessweek have both reported recently that many independent bookstores are seeing their profits up over last year as their communities awaken to their importance and value, and as they innovate and change rather than complain.

My bookstore, Battenkill Books in tiny Cambridge, N.Y., has sold more than 1,000 copies of books by local authors in November and December. And we hope to sell 1,000 signed and personalized copies of “Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die” by New Year’s. We are nearly at 800. Connie Brooks does not squawk about Amazon and neither does Lisa Sullivan. They both just set out to run a great bookstore and allow people to make their own choices about books.

The cheapest thing isn’t always the best thing. I buy books in bookstores and some  e-books without any remorse or regret, and I like savings – I just saved $250 on a video camera I could not possibly have purchased in my farming community and was appreciative of  it. Corporations have a right to exist, but so do people. Saving $8 on every book purchased may not be so great a savings if it means losing our bookstores. There are some things we have to pay for. There are some things worth paying for, especially if we live in a world where all of our interactions are through a keyboard. Amazon will never give you the pleasure of personally handing you or your child a book they know you will love. But Amazon can give you many good books cheaply and beam they right into your home or your vacation hotel.

So I hope you will fight back and support independent bookstores, as many are doing. This afternoon I will take another video of Connie and Marilyn Brooks. Friday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. (Dec. 2) I will be in the bookstore taking calls 518 677 2515.  You can call that number to order my books or you can place your order online. And you can order my books or any books online at [email protected] The store now has PayPal.

__

At 2 p.m., Saturday, Lenore, me and Santa Claus will be at Gardenworks signing copies of “Meet The Dogs Of Bedlam Farm,”  my first children’s book. Trees, cider donuts, pies, gourmet cheese and me.