The Love of Used Bookstores

     Oh, for the love of used books. I just love the smell of used books when I walk into a used bookstore. There’s just something awesome about all those shelves with chipped-off paint, books with love messages written inside the cover, magazines that sport dog ears and tears, and I even like the notes in bad taste that are scribbled on the wall of the bookstore’s bathroom. You know, that one that the store’s employees try hard to keep decent. In short, there’s more to a "used-up bookstore" as I call them then there is to a regular chain bookseller. Not that I don’t fancy the big chains. It’s just that they don’t have that special charm that used bookstores posses.

     First of all, you don’t have to be all fancy-shmancy in a used-up bookstore. You can plop yourself right down in your favorite section, right next to the hobo, who didn’t have a bath in five days and the humanities major with a runny nose. You can browse, read, chat, and take notes to your heart’s content, which you can’t very well do in a regular bookstore. No, they expect you to sit prim and proper in the café area, nursing a Starbuck’s cup and stuffing an overpriced piece of cheesecake.

     If you’re like me, you have a huge personal library at home. You have books coming out of your ears, have them stacked next to your bed and everywhere else where you have space. You have books pretty much on every subject, from animal behavior to wicca, and you probably dedicate a part of your income every month to buy "new babies" for your library. Amazon dot com loves you to death. So, once a year I have to do spring cleaning and sell books that I don’t want anymore (and that’s not many) in a used-up bookstore. You can (woo hoo!) get some cash for your old books, which they won’t let you do in a chain. Sure, there are used book chains like Half Price Books, and they will also give you cash. But, when you sell your used treasures to an individually-owned store, you’re adding to that whole charm-thing that I was talking about earlier.

     If you’ve published a book or two, chances are you can display your promotional materials in a used-up bookstore. With the chains, you can only dream about free publicity.

     So next time you stash yourself in your favorite used-up bookstore for the afternoon, sit back in the worn-out couch and inhale the smell of oldness around you. Feels great, doesn’t it?