Scary.

Eating at Soup Spoon tomorrow!! So excited! Always excited to eat at Soup Spoon. Am a fan. Like really. Its my expensive comfort food really. Think sitting down in the shop for a bowl of soup is always relaxing. If only I'd take time to savour and not down the whole bowl in a few minutes...

So I've been thinking...with the emergence of ebooks and online bookstores, there doesn't seem to be a need for actual bookstores anymore. There has been a trend that sees bookstores close down one by one. And one more, Page One, ending its stay in SG end February.

I feel sad to see bookstores go. They are places I like visiting because of its ambiance. I like to walk round the shelves that seem to form a maze that is easy to walk through; the quiet yet busy atmosphere with people leaning against shelves browsing through books or shuffling their way around to search for a book and store assistance moving about restocking the shelves. To be surrounded books has become something of a pleasure to me these recent years. And that I took to liking books and being in a bookstore at such a late stage, seeing them go is difficult.

(turning sentimental...oh~mai luv~mai Dahling!)

Because of this I've been thinking of reasons people should preserve the traditional bookstore. But it seems to me that there are more that point towards its phasing out.

After all progress is what the world is about. Digital media has changed the way we live our lives and will take over it one day. Preservation is for memory sake. We know that it is important because it is a reflection of our culture, the way of life once upon a time. But somethings are just not worth keeping. At least from a business point of view, not unless someone with good foresight like Warren Buffet says its worth it's worth keeping.

Let's think about it. E-books help to reduce the demand for paper products, thus lowering the need to chop down trees. Or at least buying a book online would allow only demanded books to be produced. Preventing over production and thus wastage. For land scarce countries like ours truly, we reduce space used.

There have been people who say that reading online damages your eyes. Long periods of exposure to the harmful light radiated from the screens damages the eye that is. But look, its an excuse. All of us use the internet for such long periods. Its not like we are adding more time spent using the computer. It's just probably giving up some time for reading on the internet. There's only 24 hours in a day you know. And most of us do not cultivate proper reading habits such as reading under good light or making sure that the book is of a decent distance away from your our eyes. Who actually bothers?

I think if surviving bookstores were to want to survive for longer (and forever), we need to look into the function of the bookstore. What can a bookstore bring that its electronic counter part is unable to?

These days with everything going electronic, it is quite difficult to think of a reason.

Perhaps the answer lies in our need for personal touch.

Traditionally a bookstore supplies books; a medium for authors and publishers to market their books. Giant bookstore chains stock up tons of books to allow book lovers to have plenty to choose from within a single bookstores. It promotes convenience, comparability and also an environment that subtly encourages reading.

Similar bookstores such as Eslite in Taiwan even provide benches for readers to have a nice seat on which to browse their books. Hoping that this would entice them into buying it eventually.

But if a bookstore were to merely be a supplier of books, then places such as book rental stores and libraries would be able to rival it. Of course unlike a bookstore, libraries and book rental shops provide more second hand books. They do not quite provide the latest publications and often rely upon bookstores to provide so from which they collect and carry out their rental and lending business. That books can now be purchased online these rental and lending businesses have an alternative from which to obtain their supplies.

Bookstores also sell other items such as stationery and paper products such as cards and wrappers. Bookstores like Page One that specialise in design sell cameras and many little thingamajigs. Together with the books they sell, they make good profits which used allow them to set up a gigantic teritory in malls, sometimes an entire building.

That bookstores are closing down, consumers don't see a need to enter a store to compare books anymore. You can easily do so online. Which is even more convenient then ever.

So what is the next stage of a bookstore?

I would think that it comes down to the values that bookstores should promote. It should progress from being a mere engine to supply books. People who go to bookstores like Kinouniya and Page One are consumers keen on reading. Its unlike the customer in Popular, usually consisting of worried parents who are there to shop for school supplies and supplementary materials for their children.

Books are seen as a tool of education. And bookstores should really tap on this. I might not be updated on the events at the bookstores, but for quite awhile I haven't heard of workshops or talks being held at bookstores to promote books.

Libraries do host such talks occasionally. But they are not that well publicized either.

I think bookstores should be more proactive in promoting their books. That they are earning profits, they should invest in doing so. There are many people who love books and they would be keen to be told more about the new arrivals or the best sellers or have the authors talk about their book. There are many ideas to explore in this area.

Basically, think bookstores should seek to reinvent themselves. A store that does not only serve to supply a large quantity and variety of titles but a place that promotes reading, that facilitates learning, that creates a space which stimulates creativity and thinking and creates a place for people to share ideas with one another.

Bookstores can tap on new technologies, to have their book catalogue stored in a computer system where people can go to to search for titles. Some books can be displayed but not in large quantities. Space is saved and the large space can be used for other more value adding and profitable purposes.

So the take away here would be, to rethink space, and concept of the bookstore. To embrace technology and instead of jumping into it in entirety, find ways to combine technology with the traditional bookstores.

I took a few days to finish this entry...I started on Thursday. Its midnight now...its Sunday.

1:24:00 오전