By Laura Drewry
Published: Feb. 18, 2012
Eight months ago, we made the hard decision to close The Squamish Bookshelf.
When we took the space over from Mostly Books, we knew it was a precarious decision, given the state of other independent bookstores.
E-readers and box stores are popping up everywhere, but we jumped in anyway, and for two and a half years, we had more fun than we ever could have imagined.
There wasn’t a day that went by when we didn’t laugh, not a day we didn’t learn something from one of our customers, and not a day I wasn’t incredibly grateful to have such an amazing family who worked with me.
People say it’s a different world now; it’s a techie-world. And maybe they’re right.
Like so many others, I have an iPad and I have the Kindle and Kobo apps on my phone, but do I use any of those to read a book?
Not very often.
My four previously paper-published books are now only available as e-books, so while it feels a little hypocritical to say it, I still prefer to read paper books.
Are e-readers a handy thing? Absolutely.
You can shop online from any place that has WiFi, you can enlarge the font, look up words, bookmark pages, highlight, and carry 3000 books around with you in one device that weighs less than half a pound.
And for anyone who tried to carry around Stephen King’s Under the Dome when it first came out in hardcover, you know what I’m talking about.
These are all valid arguments, but I still want to walk into a bookstore and pick up a book in my hand. It’s the texture, it’s the smell, and it’s the sentimental attachment I have to them, especially the old ones I’ve come across over the years.
Of all the books on my shelves, one of my favourites is Sacred History, Selected From the Scriptures; with Annotations and Reflections, Particularly Calculated to Facilitate the Study of the Holy Scriptures in Schools and Families from 1806 with a precise hand-written inscription to Frances Elizabeth Maria Wyndham.
It’s over 200 years old, it’s dirty, the cover is faded, and most of the pages are stained.
It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
Will I ever read this book? Probably not, but the romantic in me still can’t imagine an e-book equivalent.
Sure, in another 200 years, e-books will still be around in some format or another, but will we feel that sentimental tug when we look at them? Or will we be too busy wiping fingerprints off our screens to even care?
It would seem I’m in the minority on this, and that’s okay. People will always read, regardless of the format, and that’s a good thing. But for any other paper book lovers out there, if you haven’t been to Armchair Books in Whistler, you need to go. Now. Stop reading this and go. Seriously.
Jane Iverson says
Nothing can ever replace the feel of a book in my hands. The smells and textures, the weight of it cradled in my hands are reasons enough for me, to continue with this good old fashioned method of savouring the written words. Holding the corner before turning the page in anticipation of what lies ahead can never be experienced by reading online. Think of the missed opportunities for artists who design the book covers, illustrating the author’s intent with such skill and passion, meant to lure the reader into the story. Yes, it is all good that people continue to read, in whatever shape or form that might take, but to never have experienced the intimacy of reading from a bricks and mortar book to yourself or sharing it with a child, is something I would not even wish to imagine.