Thursday, February 14, 2008

Is Borders Becoming a For-Profit Public Library?

Check out this article in today's USA Today and consider. They are mixing books, digital downloads and their inevitable coffee shops in a single concept store. A quote from the article:

...follow the table of books snaking off to the right, and you'll come face-to-face with Borders' newest retail strategy: a digital center where you can download music or books, burn CDs, research family histories, print pictures and order leather-bound books crammed with family photos — with help from clerks who know how to do those sorts of things and won't embarrass you if you don't.

That description sounds chillingly familiar, doesn't it?

2 comments:

Jane said...

...and people say we are not competing with bookstores. Wake up and smell the $3 coffee!

Anonymous said...

now if only we could eat and drink in the library! or how about a snack store next door? people would stay longer! at least you have bathrooms in the library.