Do we really need indie bookstores? Isn’t it true that all the claims I’ve been making for the value of bookstores apply more robustly to libraries? Libraries are public, which means they serve a far broader constituency than any bookstore, most notably the poor and the indigent. And their services go far beyond books and literacy. At my library, you can rent umbrellas and museum passes and backpacks with binoculars and field guides, make a pair of earrings with a 3D printer or a laser cutter, use a computer or tether to a wireless hotspot, take a class in genealogy or resume building, rent a room for a club or a tutoring session, see the circus, join a queer craft group. Buffalo Street Books offers none of these things. And you don’t need a single dollar to walk in and take advantage of these riches. So doesn’t Tompkins County Public Library morally best Buffalo Street Books?
To help me judge this throwdown, I talked to Woody Chicester. Who better? Woody worked for years at BSB, first as a bookseller and then as General Manager, before decamping to TCPL where they are currently a Library Assistant, which includes nonfiction book-buying among other duties.
Yup. TCPL wins the bracket.