A Trip to Bountiful, Midwest-Style

I just returned from a brief trip to see my family in Champaign, Illinois. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to one of my favorite used bookstores – the Jane Addams Book Shop in downtown Champaign. However, my nephew did give me a tour of the new public library that opened in January 2008. It’s an impressive facility that is a library, a media rental center, a computer lab, a coffee shop and even a used book store located in the basement (where you can buy a grocery sack of romance novels for $2).

 On a sad note, one of my favorite independent book stores in Champaign, Pages for All Ages, unexpectedly closed its doors after 20 years of business. Just as with the closing of Wordsmiths in Decatur and other independent bookstores throughout the country, I suspect these closings are combinations of circumstances: the economy, competition from online businesses, new libraries (perhaps), or an error in judgment. No matter if it is just one thing or a combination of different factors, you miss them just the same.