I am all for mixing it up a bit to try and stay competitive and to keep things fresh but this story has me feeling a little uneasy.
Through Saturday, if you’re in Hamilton, Montana and walk past the Chapter One Bookstore you will see someone sitting in the window reading. The store is encouraging their customers to do a two hour stint sitting in the front window.
There is enough pressure on the “reader” and the bookstore these days that I worry that by displaying a reader in the front window we are perpetuating and reinforcing the ‘reader and bookstore as endangered species’ theme and not really helping to improve our lot.
Let your customers pick their favorite books and put them in the window or have an event with your customers and have them read from their favorite books but for now let’s keep them out of the window.