Why I like Borders

I’m an East Coast literary snob, so I’m supposed to bemoan the fact that the small independent book stores have mostly died out. And I do. I truly miss Wordsworth in Harvard Square, and one of the big pluses that come to mind when I think about how much I’d enjoy living in Cambridge is the existence of the Harvard Bookstore.

I don’t go there often enough, and usually it’s to meet friends for breakfast, but I really love the idea of the Trident Bookstore Cafe. Where you can eat and buy a book. Two of my very favorite things to do in the whole wide world.

And I will say I’m not all that fond of Amazon.

Sure, it’s fine if you know what book you want. And they do make those suggestions.

But when I’m in a bookstore, what I really want to do is browse. As in browse-browse.

So I like a tangible bookstore, and as chain tangible bookstores go, Borders is pretty good.

They carry a decent selection of high quality literary fiction. They give you discounts if you buy a lot of books. And even if you don’t, you can always get a bargain at the buy-one-get-one-half-price table. They promote locals to some degree.

But mostly I like them for their customer service.

I know I’ve written about this before, but, ask a Borders’ employee a question, and they don’t point you in the right direction, they take you right to where you want to go.

Case in point.

Although I am an avowed East Coast literary snob, I occasionally buy junk. And some of the junk I wanted to buy recently was Twilight New Moon related stocking stuffers for my nieces, who are 12 and 13. I had seen something of interest - New Moon Band-Aid, anyone - at the Back Bay Borders, but cheaped out. Once I thought about it, I realized that it was ridiculous to pass up the opportunity to get them the most ridiculous bit of Twilight-related paraphernalia, even if it did cost $7.

So I stopped in at the Downtown Borders, but couldn’t find the Twilight display. (Okay, even though I was taking advantage of it, one thing I don’t like about Borders is the add-on stuff, especially that aimed at kids.)

I asked a very nice middle-aged Borders’ employee - whose name I unfortunately didn’t note - where the Twilight display was. (In truth, I used the word “junk.”)  He took me to the main display, but, alas, there were no tins of band-aid. So, he buzzed someone from his headset to find out if they carried the band-aid, and where they might be. Then he took me to the spot. The other guy showed up, too, just to make sure we found them.

As someone who has lost a lot of time wandering around bookstores trying to find a specific book or section - not to be confused with non-lost time spent wandering around bookstores just wandering around with no purpose in mind - I really and truly appreciate the level of service that Borders offers.

I know that they’ve been in some financial trouble, but I really hope they last.

I can’t imagine living in a neighborhood where it’s not possible to just wander into a bookstore and wander around.

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