The place to shop in Laredo
Laredo’s last bookstore is closing:
With a population of nearly a quarter-million people, this city could soon be the largest in the nation without a single bookseller.
The situation is so grim that schoolchildren have pleaded for a reprieve from next month’s planned shutdown of the B. Dalton bookstore. After that, the nearest store will be 150 miles away in San Antonio.
I LOVE that St. George has a Barnes & Noble. Even though I use the Kindle for most of my reading, I make sure to get plenty from Barnes & Noble so they will stay in town.
As to Laredo… I guess they need to read more. Markets work. Alas, a new store could be a long time coming:
Some worry that the closing could send a message that books and reading are not priorities in Laredo, a hot, steamy city of 230,000 that is choked by smog from trucks lining up at the border, which is home to the nation’s biggest entry point for trucks and trains.
Nearly half of the population of Webb County, which includes Laredo, lacks basic literacy skills, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Sometimes, you make your bed, and you lie in it, not reading.