Speak Out: Do You Still Shop At Bookstores?

Is the age of the bookstore over?

That’s a question some are asking after Borders shut its doors nationwide, including the location in Columbia, and Barnes & Noble recently announced poor holiday sales, including declines in sales of its e-reader, the Nook tablet, The New York Times reported.

A failed Barnes & Noble could create nearly a dozen vacancies in Maryland, including stores in Ellicott City, Frederick and Pikesville, although company representatives told the Baltimore Business Journal in November it planned to maintain a “strong Baltimore presence,” the publication reported.

The region has also seen its exodus of smaller, independently owned bookstores.

In May of 2012, Eldersburg Patch reported the closing of one of Carroll County’s last independent bookstores: The Little Professor Book Store, which had been open for 35 years.

The closing of The Little Professor Book Store followed the closings of other bookstores in Carroll County, including Locust Books in Westminster and Waldenbooks in TownMall, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Meanwhile, e-readers have gained popularity.

A program in Howard County libraries that lends out Nook e-readers had a line of more than 500 waiting to check out the device eight months after its inception, reported Columbia Patch in July of 2011.

In January of 2012, CNN reported that the number of adults who owned tablets “increased from 10% in mid-December to 19% in early January.”

Tell us in story comments: Do you still like to shop at bookstores? Or have you completely made the switch to e-readers?

See related links:

Nook E-Readers In Demand From Howard County Libraries

Barnes & Noble Faces Steep Challenge as Holiday Nook Sales Decline

Ownership of tablets, e-readers almost doubles in one month