The bookstore-less streets of Laredo [updated]

Laredo, Texas, is set to become the largest U.S. city without a bookstore. The B. Dalton in the Mall del Norte, owned by parent company Barnes & Noble, is slated to close next month. When it does, it will leave the city's close to 250,000 residents without a single bookstore. 

The Associated Press reports that letters from schoolchildren had no effect on the corporation's decision to shutter the B. Dalton; Barnes & Noble announced plans earlier this year to close all remaining B. Dalton outlets. "Corporate America considers Laredo kind of the backwater," said Jerry Thompson, an author who lives in Laredo and is a professor at Texas A&M International University.

Barnes & Noble, however, says it does think that Laredo can support a bookstore. It has its eyes on a site for a "large format" Barnes & Noble -- but that won't be ready until 2011.

With no independent bookstores in the city and the last chain outlet slated for closure, residents will have to travel about 150 miles across arid ranchland to San Antonio to buy books.

Unless they have an Internet connection, that is.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

[UPDATE: the original version of this post said that Jerry Thompson is a professor at Texas A&M University International. He is in fact a professor at Texas A&M International University.]

Photo: B. Dalton in the Mall del Norte in Laredo, Texas. Credit: Ricardo Santos / Associated Press

Comments

[felonious hex]

who cares?

this says more about the language that Laredo's majority speaks than it does about what they read

[LD]

We have the worst mini-Borders book store in the Stonewood Mall, in Downey. It is shameful to not have a decent book store around. For years (25+) I have had to entirely leave the area when I need a book. Now, there is a real Border's in Pico Rivera, or down to Cerritos for a book. Shameful.

[DONALD McCREA]

...."have to travel about 150 miles across arid ranchland to San Antonio to buy books"???.........or join the 21st century and click on Amazon.....besides, look at the photo of this little mall bookstore.......what are you going to find in a "bookstore" like that?.......

[Jake T]

God Bless American ingenuity: we've managed to invent civilization-free cities.

[lisa]

Or they'll just buy books at the Wal-Mart, where they buy everything else in Laredo.

[truth to power]

No surprise here! I lived in texas for 15 years. At least I was in Austin, THE only really decent town in the entire state.
May the Gods help 'em!

[Lou Bricano]

Oh, come on, what's the big deal? It's Texas, home state of Uncurious George.

[AMAPO]

This is retarded why would I drive to SA to get a book? Haven't you people heard of "internet shopping" (which is way cheaper than bookstores)? BTW the book sections of our Walmart Supercenters are twice as large as the B. Dalton they're closing. PS: I'm from Laredo

[Manuel Canton]

I made a search and Laredo Texas has a Christian bookstore and an adult bookstore. What else can a Texas town want.

[Rose]

There are these things called libraries...

[David Underwood]

Considering the politics of Texas, it would seem as if books there are superfluous anyway. All they seem to need is a bible and a TV to watch Fox (fake) news.

[the plasticgraduate]

I didn't know Texans could read.

[Jason]

According to Google Maps there are eight libraries in Lorado. On top of that, if you look at the picture of the bookstore, the racks are filled with magazines and best sellers. This is not where the children of Lorado go to get their fix of the classics.

It's a shame that's Barnes and Noble isn't investing more bookstores because as more books become electronic and the lack of places to buy a tangible book made of paper, the less people will need Barnes and Nobles or B. Daltons and the more people will get their literature from Amazon for their Kindles.

So keep your magazines B. Dalton, it's cheaper to have them delivered as an annual subscription anyway.

[richard]

this is the future that more of america can look forward to.
future generations seem little concerned with education or even
a sense of wonder.
texas border towns are the future demographic that will be the majority in this country one day soon.
and scholastic accomplishments are just not as high on the list as
having babies,drinking beer or watching tv.

[Nix]

Writing obvious snark makes me feel good and furthers the cause of culture!

[ALEX]

Why not? After all, years on and the State of Texas keeps on executing
prisoners in the highest numbers. And, just last week, the University
of Texas revised & extended its head football coach's contract.
He will now pull in a mighty yearly salary totaling $5 Million Dollars!!!
It's a BushCheneyWorld, eh?

[person]

Romance novels are at CVS, and car magazines are available at the corner mart. They are good to go.

[bob]

why give them books .....they just eat the pages

[tex]

Hey lets all read this article and then hate on Laredo instead of using our time in a more constructive manner! Yay! Egocentrism has won!

[Ann]

This is soooooooooooooooo sad. :(

[Tee]

Sounds like most of the commenters here could stand to spend a little more time with a book themselves. Classless.

[Jim]

Heavy latino consentratons in San Antonio can't support book stores either. Does that tell you something....

[NME]

So what? There's only one book you need: The Bible.

[Justin]

Wow, folks! Stereotype much?

[Stephen]

They certainly seem to have their priorities in line however, as a quick search on google showed 12 gun shops around Lared0. Perhaps it's possible to buy a book there. About guns.

[Lena]

Wow, as a native Texan from a small town located in that "150 miles of arid ranchland" mentioned in the article, I'm pretty offended by most of these comments. I wonder how many of you have ever even been to Laredo or this mall. This bookstore closing has more to do with the quality of the mall and the area of Laredo in which it's located. Poor communities rely more on libraries than bookstores, and that's just common sense. In addition, increased border gang violence in Laredo, has had a huge impact on the local economy over the past decade.

[MNPundit]

I have relatives that live near there. It IS a backwater. Best of luck to them regardless.

[Howard]

Apparently, it is acceptable to mock the poor if they happen to live in a place you don't like, like Texas. I'm guessing a significant number of those 250,000 people are illiterate or read only Spanish.

[Patricia]

Wow, I sure wish I could live in a great (bankrupt) state like California so I too could write comments with misspellings and incorrect punctuation. Instead, I am forced to live in a state like Texas, where our government saved for a rainy day, didn't tax the heck out of its citizens and we didn't overprice our real estate. Oh, and I'm sorry, but isn't California the state with the highest Hispanic population (legal or not)? Hmmmm...I guess that explains all of these unintelligent comments coming out of such a know-it-all state. Hook 'Em!

[OtterQueen]

Hmmmm... sounds like a great opportunity for an independent or used bookstore!

[CB68613]

They make the store look huge in that picture.
It's way smaller in person.
The store's located on the "bad" side of the mall.
It needs to be relocated and redesigned.

I hate sterotypes.

[Eve]

GO TO THE LIBRARY. I absolutely love books, but just because Laredo doesn't have a corporate book chain doesn't mean that literacy is on it's way out.
Having a large, soulless book chain in your city is not necessarily the answer, and neither is the last sentence of the article. Many people (the sane ones) prefer to BROWSE books not just look at covers of them online. Searching books on line is not "browsing books" as any book lover will tell you. It's a tactile experience.
I think this situation is ripe for an independent bookstore to set up shop, but that would most likely close after 2011 when B&N stomps into town. Support your libraries and local independent bookstores, folks!

[Skye Jones]

Jerks! That's where I got all my freaking books! How could they do this to us!?

[Laredoan]

There are a lot of uneducated people in Laredo (it's the Mexican/Hispanic culture - everything's about tradition and not about experience), but it still sucks to not have a bookstore. Just like any other city, Laredo is a melting pot of ethnicities and personalities.

Overall, a bookstore is needed, and it's a shame we don't have one anymore..

[Scott]

Didn't the article state that:

1) ALL B. Dalton stores are being closed, suggesting that this is no reflection on Laredo, and
2) B&N is opening a new full-sized Barnes and Noble store in Laredo next year that will put any little mall book outlet to shame? Won't Laredo be better off book-wise when that happens than they are now with only B. Dalton?

If Laredo is such a backwater, why is B&N expanding there during a recession?

I question the motivations of the author of this article.