Censorship in the Hooser State

I got my MLS at Indiana University and have a soft spot in my heart for the Hoosier State. It is a red state, as is PA where I live now. I saw a link to a Indystar article this morning that the Indiana governor just signed a bill making bookstores register before they can sell sexually explicit material. The law is clearly aimed at sex shops along freeways, but "sexually explicit" is so broadly defined that many bookstore owners are very worried it could apply to the great classics such as The Three Musketeers, Beloved, or even The Bible. I mean, the Old Testament has some really racy stuff in it, but come on! I think this fear is legitimate, this gives censorship advocates all they need to start launching campaigns against bookstores. I doubt Barnes & Nobel and Borders will have many problems they can't handle, but defending oneself could be the end of an indie bookstore. The governor claimed to have received no complaints. This sounds like a typical politician to me.

Talking to People in a Bookstore

I read a great article called "How to Talk to the People in the Bookstore" by Melissa Lion. I was hooked at the beginning when she swooned because Khaled Hosseini "smelled so damn good." He's one of my favorite authors, and of course I've swooned from good-smelling men a number of times myself. I also like her reaction to someone who is offended by the presence of a particular book.

I'm not sure many of these recommendations could be adapted to a library other than looking patrons in the eye and saying hello. We've stressed that this year, along with name tags and other ways of being more personal, more approachable. I think students are still scared of us no matter what we do, but we can keep trying.

Blogging Ideas

My friend in publishing (a.k.a. "the dark side") got me interested in a daily e-newsletter for the publishing industry. There was an interesting article about indie bookstores using blogs as part of their marketing strategy. I looked at the store they mentioned, which can be found here: Books in Northport. There are comments on the entries and her profile has 266 views since last September, so I am thinking she must get a reasonable amount of traffic. I just e-mailed her to ask how she steers her customers to her blog and hope that something in her response (if she responds) can inspire me to find ways to get the students more involved in this blog or the library's blog.

Speaking of Indie Bookstores, I must add a plug for Otto's in the heart of downtown Williamsport. I've been looking for the most recent edition of Sweeney Todd by Oxford Press because it's the first time the original text has been reassembled since its original publication in serial format over 100 years ago. At a mall bookstore in Philly last week, the clerks were annoyed that I was in line for something I couldn't buy there and I left empty-handed. I went to Otto's and three people were busy at different computers until they found what I wanted. I could have ordered it from Amazon, but would have had to pay shipping and it would have taken them longer to deliver it. Nothing beats the personal service at a good indie bookstore, please don't let them go extinct!