Support your local independent store

Landmark Toronto bookstore THIS AIN'T THE ROSEDALE LIBRARY is facing tough economic times, as reported in this post by Rory Seydel, manager of our own independent bookstore. THIS AIN'T is particularly close to our hearts in part because they have carried and supported D&Q books and comics since the early 1990s, at least a decade before most bookstores in North America started creating "graphic novel" sections.

Folks, we all have to step up here and do our part to support these stores, or else we'll all be reading books on iPads and Kindles a lot sooner than we think. Except without a base of independent bookstores to hold together the foundation of a book industry, there won't be any options to read books in "hard copy" formats anymore. And on another depressing level, when independent stores shutter their doors they're often replaced by the likes of a GAP or Starbucks and their ilk, making our cities less interesting places to live in. Sigh, this is all starting to resemble the "future" that Seth has long complained about.

If you haven't been to your local independent book or comic store in a while, there's no better time to do so than this upcoming holiday weekend(s). And by choosing to continue shopping at these stores in the coming weeks, months, and years ahead, you'll be playing an important role in making your local community a more interesting place to live in and in keeping books "in print," as they should be.

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