Chapter closing on lone Laredo bookstore

Texas city soon to be the largest in the country without a bookseller

The Associated Press
updated 4:26 p.m. CT, Wed., Dec . 16, 2009

LAREDO, Texas - The final chapter has been written for the lone bookstore on the streets of Laredo.

With a population of nearly a quarter-million people, this city could soon be the largest in the nation without a single bookseller.

There's more at the link.

The "last store in Laredo" is a B. Dalton store, which in most areas where I've seen them means a glorified magazine stand designed to fit into tiny stalls in large malls. This chain has been closing out in most places, and is near extinction in the US already.

In most cities, there might be a real bookstore (Borders, Barnes, etc, or a local one) a little down the street where adequate space is more affordable. It appears that for some time Laredo has not had much more than "a pile of books with a roof over it," as one commentator describes the situation in the article.

Our resident librarians (and other readers) may be interested in comments regarding the lack of municipal support for a replacement for the book store (or support for the library) at the same time that the city is considering construction of an indoor snowboarding rink(?). In Texas!!!?

A sign of the times?

John