At Least There's The Library. Wait, Do We Still Have Libraries?

This article is about the woes at Barnes & Noble, the last bookstore chain standing (okay, there's Books-a-Million, but they're not out here). The new new CEO (they're burning through CEOs pretty fast) has ideas, like closing more stores -- that's not promising -- and opening smaller stores -- okay, that's more like it -- but the fact is that they managed to become a brick-and-mortar monopoly and screwed it up. Our local B&Ns are less pleasant to shop in than they used to be, have fewer seats and smaller inventories, and never seem to have what I want, which makes Amazon that much more attractive an option. Independent book stores seem to be surviving, so there IS room for brick-and-mortar book stores. Barnes and Noble can't find the right mix, though. (New York Times)

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