Borders UK calls in Administrators

Sapphire

vivatifosi wrote: »

I work p/t in a large library in a fairly large town - the same size town that would have a good bookshop like a Borders. We get stocks of all the latest popular titles and sometimes several copies at a time. Most good, large, libraries do the same.

I do like book stores, but they cannot unfortunately make money from browsers alone. Personally I'd rather high street book shops and libraries were complimentary rather than competing as I love books and agree that you can't beat the sensory experience of handling the books to see which you would like to read. Since the end of the Net Book Agreement we've been witnessing the slow death of over 500 independent book shops. If book stores as a format aren't to be something we look back on as part of the "good old days" alongside decent fishmongers and butchers then either a) people have to go back to using them, or b) they need to change their format to something more relevant.

People also need to know more about what is available in their local libraries. They are used regularly by a large section of the population, but equally there's a big group of people who would never step into one, even though library staff try hard to be inclusive and open to everyone. Many now stock CDs and DVDs, some stock BluRays and a few are in the process of launching e-books for loan that can be downloaded from the library websites without needing to visit the building.

I work in book publishing, and in my industry the closure of so many bookshops has had a devastating effect on the industry. Many really good books by different publishers do not even reach shops (or libraries); they simply do not get seen by potential buyers of the kind who used to go into bookshops regularly to browse (like me) and buy books.

The only thing that seems to do well are those awful celebrity-'authored' books – a sad sign of the times and very bad for our culture. :cool:

lostinrates

Sapphire wrote: »

The only thing that seems to do well are those awful celebrity-'authored' books – a sad sign of the times and very bad for our culture. :cool:

Books about terrible childhoods seem to do well. (blame the parents generation?). Terribly depressing. Could't agree more about impact on culture.

Lilith1980

I purchased some books on Borders about a week ago totalling £80 - I had a 25% discount voucher and needed some books for uni - will I get them or at least get a refund??

I emailed the address on their homepage but am a bit worried

bristol_pilot

Bit of a shame, I really like Borders - one of the few shops in any sector that I actually enjoy going into. I'd much rather buy in-store, as with online purchases I'm never at home to receive the deliveries. Hope someone buys Borders as a going concern.

Sol00

It's a shame to see another high street chain go into administration, especially with such a gap after all the chains that collapsed after the new year.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

People also need to know more about what is available in their local libraries.

My experience of libraries has been that they are for kids and old people. In my village they never had a book at a higher level than O level, other libraries I've been in seem to mostly have fiction and oldish books. They're not really open when people aren't at work.

I tried ordering a book I needed for a course and it never even arrived after the course had finished.

In big towns, libraries might be good, but unless you can easily get to a library in the middle of a big town, they're pants.

Richard_Cocks

Even in big towns libraries are sadly pretty useless. I finally got around to signing up to Guildford library expecting it to be full of reasonable books. I found myself often buying books thinking "why don't I just borrow this from the library".

When I finally got around to visiting the library there wasn't a single suitable book! The entire computing section was only reference books, there was no general reading there or even more introductory books (for languages), just lots of large language reference books.
The science/mathematics section was even more pathetic, a single column of (small) shelves that had very little. The mathematics seemed all aimed at A level at highest and was about half of one shelf.

Browsing the rest of non-fiction it was really outdated. There was little or none of the books I've enjoyed reading in the last few years.

If this is the state of the library in a city then I despair for the rest of the county. The fact that there's more suitable selection of books in my local charity shop is worrying. (To be fair it's one specialising in books, but it's still 1/10th the size of the library!)

stphnstevey

Anyone got a list of Borders store locations?

worldtraveller

stphnstevey wrote: »

Anyone got a list of Borders store locations?

Unfortunately the Borders website is down (I can't quite understand why the Administrators don't at least have a link to store locations, especially as they are still trading - foolish IMHO.), but you can get a list by using the search page at The Booksellers Association.

vivatifosi

Sapphire wrote: »

The only thing that seems to do well are those awful celebrity-'authored' books – a sad sign of the times and very bad for our culture. :cool:

Couldn't agree more. I hate them. Working in libraries with different demographics is interesting - they go out very well in my experience in libraries that are in quite working class locations but not where people are wealthier. Being from a working class background it cuts me up to think its what people aspire to.

PasturesNew wrote: »

My experience of libraries has been that they are for kids and old people. In my village they never had a book at a higher level than O level...

I tried ordering a book I needed for a course and it never even arrived after the course had finished.

Richard_Cocks wrote: »

The science/mathematics section was even more pathetic, a single column of (small) shelves that had very little. The mathematics seemed all aimed at A level at highest and was about half of one shelf.

Small libraries (village/neighbourhood size) and mobile libraries will have small stocks of books. They will mostly focus on popular titles and are unlikely to have text books above O level.

Even in large libraries, the stock of degree level books can be minimal and up to about the first year of a degree level, not higher. This is because degree level books and higher are the focus of academic libraries and there is not the space to stock them nor the budget to buy them. Anyone who has visited a university library will know that they are often larger than even a big town library and stock specialist titles that a town library just wouldn't have the space for.

PasturesNew wrote: »

They're not really open when people aren't at work.

There has been a move towards longer opening hours in recent times, with many open until the evening and on Sundays in larger cities. However in smaller locations you're right, you'd still be unlikely to catch one open except at weekends.

Richard_Cocks wrote: »

Even in big towns libraries are sadly pretty useless. I finally got around to signing up to Guildford library expecting it to be full of reasonable books. I found myself often buying books thinking "why don't I just borrow this from the library".

When I finally got around to visiting the library there wasn't a single suitable book! The entire computing section was only reference books, there was no general reading there or even more introductory books (for languages), just lots of large language reference books.....
Browsing the rest of non-fiction it was really outdated. There was little or none of the books I've enjoyed reading in the last few years.

This goes to the heart of my point about people knowing how to use the library and what to expect. I don't know Guildford Library, so I don't know if it is a particularly good or bad one. If you couldn't find the most popular books, then they are probably out on loan, including the computing titles. Libraries expect their popular titles to be out on loan for at least 8 loans per year. Given that borrowings are for periods of 3 weeks that's half the year that you aren't likely to find the book on the shelf. When books are new they are at their most popular, so a best selling title will likely go out again the same day it comes back, if it even makes it onto the shelves to start with.

Regular library users will get round this by reserving the title early and in advance of it being published. There may be a small charge for this (much less than the cost of buying the book) but you always get the titles. Same for computer books - Windows 7 titles are particularly popular at the moment for example, so people will reserve them. It isn't as convenient as walking into a book shop and buying a title but it is cheaper, so depends what people want in terms of getting a book - convenience or free borrowings.