Death of a bookstore

 View of the street from the counter that ran along the plate-glass window in the top-floor cafe, with reflections. December 19, 2010 / May Monten

The huge Barnes & Noble across the street from New York City's Lincoln Center, on Broadway at 66th Street, shut down on January 2, 2011. The blog MyUpperWest has pictures of the store on its last day, with empty shelves and people sitting in the cafe for one last time, and a worker in a cherry picker taking down the sign outside.

Discount clothing store Century 21 will take over the space.

I wandered into the store about a month ago after seeing a movie in the neighborhood. I had fond memories of the store from previous trips to New York. With four large floors crammed with books, a basement for CDs, and a cafe, it was a place where it was easy to lose track of time and spend several hours browsing.

This time, there was still an amazing selection of books, but some of the shelves were bare, and one section was entirely empty. Lots of stuff was being sold at clearance-sale prices. At first I was surprised, but then I vaguely remembered hearing that the store was going to close. An internet search when I got home confirmed it.

This original closing date, as reported in the New York Times this summer, was going to be at the end of January.  By the end of December, rumors were circulating which predicted the store's closing on the 2nd.

We all know it's a hard time for bookstores, and Barnes & Noble in particular is struggling, but still it was a shock to hear of such a big store shutting down. Buying books online is convenient and cheap, but for bookstore lovers, nothing can replace the experience of browsing through the shelves and the display tables of a well-stocked store, picking up the books, turning them over, thumbing through them, reading the first pages.

While bookstores are on life support, they are not quite dead yet. Although two other Barnes & Noble branches in Manhattan closed in recent years, several others are still open. Playbill.com reported that the company promises to continue its popular "Live at Barnes & Noble" programs, previously held at the Lincoln Center store, in other Manhattan locations.  Theater-related performances will be in the 175-seat space in the 86th Street/Lexington superstore, discussions in the 82nd Street/Broadway store, and other events in Tribeca and Union Square. The Lincoln Center store itself might reopen elsewhere in the neighborhood if a location with cheaper rent can be found.

It's hard, though, not to see this as the beginning of the end. If and when bookstores disappear completely, will anything new arise to take their place?