Matt Betts tries to explain himself

It happened again.

Another of my favorite independent book stores officially closed today. Liberty Books and News was fairly new - just a couple of years young and it seemed to me to be getting better all the time.

It was one of those places that seemed to have every magazine and literary journal you could think of.  They carried some that I'd never seen before, but knew were out there. Some that I'd never heard of, and with all the research I'd done for submissions of poetry and short stories, I thought I was familiar with them all. They were very thorough.

They had industry magazines for Sci-fi and Horror writers, even ones from overseas. I could list the titles but that would be a waste of your time, let's just say they carried nearly everything that I wanted and introduced me to more than I would ever need.

To rave about their magazines is in no way meant to slight their book selection. They were equally great on that mark, too. They didn't just fill the tables in their entry with best sellers, they gave new and interesting titles good placement too. And heaven forbid, they even promoted the work of local authors. Right at the front of the store! Maybe its crazy talk like that that did them in.

I'm not going to go all preachy about 'Big Bookstores Bad', mainly because I spend time in the many local Barnes and Nobles and Borders around here. I've bought a book or two at Wal-Mart and Sams Club. It's hard to beat the discount on best sellers at any one of those places.

It's just, well, most of the time I know what I'm looking for, but sometimes I go into a book store with no idea what I want. I wander the past the shelves of these places waiting for something to jump out at me and it never does. The cool thing about Liberty is was that they had the room to face some books out and give you a cover or title that might strike your fancy. They had the books on an independent top 10 list all together with a blurb written about them just below. They gave you options.

See, it wouldn't be so bad if it was just Liberty Books. In recent years my favorite independents have closed in other cities as well. There were two stores in Findlay, Ohio; Eagle and a long time staple of downtown called Morleys (or was it Moreys, I could never get that right). In Toledo, where I went to college, my favorite newsstand closed a few years back, as well as one here in Columbus. I found a great independent down in Chillicothe, and on my second visit, it was no longer there.

So what am I getting at? (As Steve Martin said to John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles... "Here'd an idea; have a point.") 

I like books. I like people who like books. I like people who like books to sell me books. I like the quiet, no coffee, no scones, no frappuccino, cappuccino, rappuccino, no AlPacino (props to Denis Leary for the AlPacino/Cappuccino thing), no 3 foot blenders grinding ball bearings for three minutes at a pop in their 'cafe' kinds of bookstores with people that leave you alone when you want to be left alone and help you when you need help. 

Yeah. There was a big fat rant coming on. But its subsiding. I'm better.