Kamada & Ineson on Reappearance of Indie Book Stores in MA, Across US: GBH News
Roy Kamada, Chair of the Writing, Literature & Publishing department, spoke to local PBS station GBH about independent bookstores re-emerging across the U.S. Among the newer ones in the Boston area include Beacon Hill Books & Cafe, Porter Square Books: Boston Edition, Posman Books, Rozzie Bound, and East End Books in the Seaport.
These shops help anchor communities, Kamada said, hosting writers and bringing readers together. “The intimacy of the bookstore space is something that’s really important.”
Affiliated faculty and executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Beth Ineson also weighed in:
People started to understand the importance of independent retail on their main streets and what their downtowns look like. Bookstores tend to be a sort of beating heart of that particular retail space. And if people want a dynamic cultural institution like a bookstore on their main street, they realize that they have to shop there. They have to buy books there.
There is no algorithm like a bookseller on the floor of a bookstore to help you discover what you want and to help you have conversations about what you’re looking for. Any online retailer’s algorithm just isn’t the same.
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