ABC News reporting on Book Expo America:
“As the book world winds up its annual national convention, some retailers are wondering about the fate of a cultural institution. It’s not a book or a publisher, but a customer, the old-fashioned bookstore browser who picks and pokes and doesn’t care about the critics or Oprah or the best-seller charts.
“I think people are less likely to just look around than they were five years ago,” says Margaret Maupin, a buyer for The Tattered Cover in Denver. “And they’re more impatient about getting a book. They come in and ask for it and if you don’t have it they go somewhere else.”
Nobody at BookExpo America, which ended Sunday, was predicting the demise of those idle, curious souls who think of bookstores as second homes. But booksellers and publishers agree that an accelerated society can’t help affecting an industry known for taking its time.”