A recent outing to a real life bookstore made me happy and sad -- happy not to be crowded out since this one is on the small side, and sad because they could use the crowds. Which leads me to ponder "how do we keep current and upcoming generations (especially generation YA) from abandoning the bookshops?"
I couldn't stick around to see how many browsers became actual buyers. Me? I picked up a nifty Charles Simic.
Absolutely LOVE this store. So does my friend Sigrid Nunez, also one of my favorite novelists. When she walks in, the staff greet her so warmly; there's a wonderful sense of literary community at that store.
ReplyDeleteThis post gets me wondering how bookstores and online spaces create community in different ways.
ReplyDeleteIn light of our previous 680 discussion on Gee, Freire and Elmborg, I feel much more aware of how the term "literacy" affects people. It comes off as meek and mild-mannered, but is such a loaded word. And "community" is another term that I am looking at in a different way. Certainly bookstores do create and enervate communities, but online spaces seem to offer people a level of simultaneous anonymity and intimacy that physical spaces may not be able to offer.
ReplyDeleteI see that you too have a passion for children and young adult literature. I also like to stroll through bookstores and observe the interaction of young children with books. Sometimes I feel sorry for the individuals that have to reshelved all the books pulled down by curious hands. As we discussed Gee, Elmborg, Freire, and critical literacy, I am reminded of the importance of getting the right book to the right student. I also realized that critical literacy is how teachers and student interact with text. They way questions are asked may determine the responsed. Can Freire's concept of banking education work in the public schools?
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