A Holistic Approach

On Reading Ahead, the blog of the National Book Foundation, Executive Director Harold Augenbraun offers us this nugget regarding the state of reading in this country.

If literary reading is on the decline, one way to stem that decline is to create a holistic approach along a spectrum of age-appropriate activities and to allow flexibility, which the balkanized literary culture will most likely not be able to do because of varied cultural, political, and social ideologies that have very little to do with inculcating a love of reading. If we leave the creation of readers to ideologues—and I use that word in its broadest sense—as we have done for decades, we will end up as a nation of non-readers. And I am not only talking about the easy-to-predict failure of Reading First and No Child Left Behind, but the results of the actions of boards of education, curriculum developers, parents, and even book salespeople.

The same need for a holistic approach applies to the bookselling world. Here are some excerpts from Bookselling 2.0 : The Bookseller Manifesto. Part II that appeared on Book Patrol back in January of 2007:

Step 3

The barriers that separate the different forms of bookselling must be torn down. A bookseller must be willing to sell new, used, rare and out-of-print books. They must be willing to sell books by small presses, fine presses and book artists. Hand-made and machine-made, limited and unlimited editions.

One must embrace the rich world of the book, in all its forms, to succeed. Each bookshop becomes a book center where all the book needs of the community can be met.

Yes, you can put a used copy of a book next to a new copy, next to the DVD of the filmed version, and you can have the first edition and a fine press edition available too!

Step 5

The bookselling industry remains completely fragmented, both within the various segments (new, resale, book arts, etc.) of the industry and within the industry as a whole.

To date the leadership of the ABA (American Booksellers Association) and the ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America) have been unable to respond effectively to the massive changes that has taken place in the industry. Yes, there have been changes and no doubt much effort and thought has been expended by the leadership but the trade remains in dire straights.

At minimum, the leadership of these trade organizations must unite their resources and begin a concerted effort to work together. They should also reach out to the various Book Arts Guilds and Centers for the Book throughout the country. We need to build book epicenters in our communities not independent outposts. We do not want to, or need to, be survivors.