Literacy, bookshops, and publishing

In what has become all too commonplace, the month of February saw the announcement of no less than three bookstores' intentions to shutter their doors. One has since been purchased, and will hopefully survive.

After serving the community for 25 years, Hastings, New York's Good Yarns faced closure until a last minute buyer stepped forward. Prior to that, the store's manager William Tester spoke to the NYT in a piece from Feb. 24- "Unless someone comes along in the next few months who is both passionate about books and has the wherewithal to shrug off something as trite as profit...You have to have some maniac who is not interested in making a living.”

"With so many bookstores having closed their doors on Main Streets in Westchester, the passing of Good Yarns means the western side of the county will have no independently owned comprehensive village bookstore between Bronxville and Chappaqua."

Unless a buyer is found, Vail, Colorado's only bookstore, Verbatim Booksellers will close within the year. Speaking with the Vail Daily, Verbatim's owner Robert Aikens stated, “It has to be somebody who loves books, loves music, and loves Vail, who wants to keep a bookstore in Vail.” The store relocated in 2006 with the aid of $70,000 in donations.

Dutton's Brentwood Books, perhaps Los Angeles' best-known independent book store, has announced that it will close on April 30. Soon after the recent closure of their Beverly Hills location, the property on which the Brentwood's location sits was sold. The property's new owner plans to redevelop.

Doug Dutton, the store's owner stated, "We have been asked if the store will reopen in the proposed new development, or at another site in the area. At present, any plans to reopen or relocate will have to await a real offer in a real situation, combined with a sober assessment of the realities of the book world."

The realities of the book world include declining readership and the continuing conglomeration of publishing houses.

Literacy and Readership
Recent surveys have shown that fewer than half of the American public reads books once they leave school or university. To be sure, falling literacy rates have something to do with this, and this is something which is unlikely to change under the current system. Indeed, among the many human services cuts in President Bush's proposed budget for 2009 is the elimination of $25.5 million dollars for Reading Is Fundamental's Inexpensive Book Distribution Program, which has provided books to millions of low-income, migrant, foster, homeless, and military children since 1975. The program had been funded without interruption by Congress and six Presidential Administrations since its inception.

According to a press release issued by RIF's president and CEO, Carol H. Rasco, “The U.S. Department of Education has shown that the number of books in a child’s home is a significant predictor of academic achievement.” In an average year, working through various agencies the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program gives on 15 million books to over 4 million children who very likely would otherwise have none. Eliminating funding for the program shows, once again, this administration's callous disregard for the less fortunate, as well as for the future development and safety of the population. There has as yet been little protest from the Democratic-led Congress.

For all the hue and cry of Leaving No Child Behind, cut after cut has been made to academic programs from Head Start to Pell Grants. With the elimination of the IBDP, we see yet further decay in the educational infrastructure of this country. The amount of $25.5 million, less than a month's spending on the War in Iraq, provides vital literacy outreach to the poorest segments of our society. To claim that it can not be afforded is both untrue and speaks volumes in regards to where the priorities of this administration and Congress lay. That these cuts will hit hardest where NCLB has already deprived schools of money due to falling test scores means that there will be a further impoverishment for the students and families involved.

Founded in 1966, RIF's goal has been to improve literacy rates by involving adult volunteers, and providing training and materials. Studies have repeatedly shown that access to books greatly improves academic achievement, as does the active participation of caring instructors. RIF's efforts have included writing contests for children, reading challenges, and family literacy programs – all with the aim of bringing a love of literature and participation in writing to children from every background. We now see an enormously successful organization stripped of funding for one of their most effective programs.

The Publishing World
During the 1990's, the rise of the “big block” booksellers and the gobbling up of smaller publishers by larger houses and – in many cases- non-publishing entities threatened the well-being of a great number of independent bookstores. While overall readership was in decline, retail shelf space was expanding at a rapid pace.

Given the nature of the industry, one of the few in which the producer of the product (ie, publishers) sets not only the wholesale, but also the retail price, (roughly a 40% markup), the ability of the bigger stores to offer deep discounts rapidly imperiled many long-standing independent stores.

In the 1990's, the American Booksellers' Association along with a number of their member stores launched a series of lawsuits against the major publishers contending that the chain stores were being given an unfair advantage. In every case, the federal courts found the publishers in violation of the Robinson-Patman act when they offered bigger discounts to the chain stores than were made available to the smaller, independent shops. By the time the lawsuits had been settled, and cease-and-desist orders issued, a number of small stores had closed.

The major publishers, such as Bertelsmann, which owns Random House, Alfred A. Knopf, Bantam, Doubleday, Dell, and a host of other publishing houses as well as a number of newspapers and other media outlets, control not only the books which are published, of course, but also the press coverage of said books, and the film deals (often within the same company, such as with Time Warner, which owns both publishing and film companies).

In many cases, when a smaller press is taken over by a larger one, the “midlist”- consisting of steady but not block-buster sales- is dropped, and the money is put toward finding the “next big thing”, regardless of merit. Oftentimes, if a book does not make an immediate splash, its print run is cut, and copies are pulped or sold as “bargain books”.

What This Means for the Reader
As the sources for new literature are ever shrinking, and the emphasis is put on immediate sales, rather than producing quality literature, there is less reason to enter a bookshop. When what is on offer is an attempt to be the “Next Harry Potter”, or “New Sex and the City”, and so much space is given over to formulaic writing in pursuit of a fast buck at the expense of the development of new ideas and directions in literature, culture and imagination are left by the wayside. The shelf space has to be filled; however, contrary to predictions made at the dawn of the big box age, more space is not resulting in more selection, but less. In an effort to maximize profit, only the most bombastic survive. If a big box store does not commit to buying a title from a major publisher, the title has a good chance of being scrapped entirely.

A great number of independent bookshops offer an alternative to this scenario- focusing on local or small presses, or on specific areas of interest such as art or politics- offering a wide range of selection from many points of view. Many shops will hold onto a title in which the booksellers have confidence in or a love for, no matter how well it sells right out of the gate.

The loss of such shops, many of which are deeply involved in the communities they serve, is not just the loss of a business, but often marks the loss of a place where imagination is given inspiration. The loss of access to information and ideas not otherwise available- even in this day of digital availability- is something to be mourned.