What would YOU like to see in your bookstore?

I would love to see better organization. Chaucer was positively HIDDEN at the local Borders. I am also dismayed to find “books stores” carrying more exercise videos and video games than books. Oh – it really drives me crazy to take my children to the children’s section to look at BOOKS, and my children’s senses are bombarded by coloring books, sticker books, and stuffed animals!

Michele

More quality children’s literature. The shelves are generally stuffed to overflowing with the comic books, the bubble gum fiction, the predictable plot series books, the “buy a toy/necklace/craft under the guise of buying a book” books, while the “classics” (or some marketer’s idea of “classics”) generally are relegated to one (small) section or shelf. I know that these other books have their place (I enjoy a “beach read” as much as the next person), but I want my kids to love reading great books, too! I usually end up searching for titles for them online, b/c looking for them at Barnes & Noble and Borders can be frustrating. They get too distracted by the flavor of the month.

More classics in the children’s fiction section. How many Potter-style knockoffs do we really need? And fewer “dark” titles. Depressing.

More curriculum. I dream of a Rainbow Resource center style collection . . .

Discount, discount, discount!!! Also more books on tape. As the independent bookstores have gone under in our city, the big chains carry only a handful of audiobooks for kids, and mostly thrillers and/or self-help/business books on tape for adults. We end up ordering a lot on the internet but it is difficult to know exactly what you are getting — sometimes when they are used you end up with an abridged version you definitely didn’t want.

I would love to see them carry more popular curriculum items – i.e. Handwriting w/out Tears books, Story of the World (sometimes see one book out of the four in the series), Spelling Workout, etc. Also more books about homeschooling in general (probably asking for too much, there).

Oh, that I could rent books that are not available at the library. For example, John Mark Reynolds’ book “When Athens Met Jerusalem” that comes out soon…I know there’s others…that I would just like to read, especially as a classical Christian home educator that I can’t find at the library. There’s at least 6 per month that fall in that category.

Oh it would be amazing to walk into a bookstore around the corner and think that they might have even one curriculum book I would like to thumb through (besides Story of the World of course). I’m sure it’s a far reaching dream but sometimes it feels like I only get one shot at looking at anything I want – the once a year homeschool convention! And only one day at that! Yes, a Rainbow Resource like section would be outstanding! And I’m always curious why school teacher stores don’t seem to carry any really good publishers either.

I would like a book shop. the nearest one is over 100km away. how I get my books is send a list (that I get out of WTM) to my closest home-school supplier. They order them in for me.

Having just moved from Powellsland (otherwise known as Portland) to very, very rural Indiana where there are ZERO bookstores, and only a library whose despicable service and even poorer selection cause frequent family boycotts of the whole affair, I have nothing to add besides wimpers of envy!

I think of this question whenever I make a trip to our Border’s and B&N. I wish for more historical fiction. I wish for children’s fiction and non-fiction to be broken down into historical eras or events. This is why I shop Amazon almost exclusively. If I am looking at a book about WWI, Amazon will show me other related books. Amazon makes a lot of money off of me with their spot-on recommendations. The last time I went to B&N looking for books on Greek mythology for my son, I circled and circled, until I found the scant selection in the poetry section.

I would like to see all of the books YOU have written Susan in a nice big bundle at a good price!

I agree with Michele and Katie, more quality in children’s books. I really HATE twaddle. Children don’t need that, they need GOOD reads. I also agree with the lady about Amazon. I have gotten several children’s books from them, and they do recommend books based on what you have already bought.

As a Well-Trained Mind enthusiast, I spend a good deal of time researching and selecting primary sources for writing assignments. I would appreciate a solid compilation of primary sources to line up with The Story of the World series which would eliminate my need to spend time in the tedious selection process. I believe this would be a popular item due to the fact that Jackdaws does not typically offer sources which span hundreds of years and considering the large following of your books. Even though a publication of this type would limit the scope of choices presented in each chapter of The Story of the World, it might also enhance the appeal of The Well-Trained Mind for those who might be getting their feet wet in the Logic Stage and beyond. And, if it isn’t too much trouble, the third installment of your history of the world please! Loved the first one.

I’d love to have an educator’s discount that applies to things other than workbooks. I’d like to see more classics and less fluff (and for the selection of classics to have less expensive paperback options). I’d like there to be a larger selection of books on cd. Better organization would be wonderful. My BAM store has a big shelf full of DK, Eyewitness and Usborne books, but I can’t find anything because it’s not organized in any way. I’d like for the book stores to carry more books and fewer toys, stationery, movies, cds, and less coffee (the Starbucks at the local B&N recently expanded and took out 4 shelves of books).

I’ll start with what I like about bookstores. I do like the community atmosphere when I go there. The cafe, places to sit, people reading newspapers, and all the many, many books.

Occasionally, I wish it was a little less chic and more comfortable like going to your favorite aunts house who is worldly, knowledgeable, fun, but always makes you feel at home.

I agree about the organization. Throwing all the authors together alphabetically doesn’t really count as organization. A directory would help. Also better lighting. Sometimes the cafe theme is spread out to the aisles and you just can’t see the shelves very well.

I use to be a bookseller so I know how hard this next part is going to be — but knowledgeable staff (especially in the children’s department). Less toys (or maybe save it for Christmas time).

As a homeschooler I’d like to see more of the titles that are part of the WTM curriculum and Sonlight’s also. I’d like to find more quality books especially for girls (there are a lot of choices, but oh my!)I don’t even have girls, but I cringe when I walk by that section.

I’d also like if if the staff didn’t look like they had to wear their tolerant face when they spoke to me if they found out I was homeschooling.

I wish they had more curriculum products that I could buy off the shelf and not have to pay shipping for. I’m tired of shipping fees.

I would like more authors to visit and have it well publicized in the local homeschooling community or the community in general when they do.

OK apparently I want a lot.

I think I would like to see more juvenile non-fiction. I find it easier to look at descriptions of fiction titles in catalogues and know that I would like it. I become frustrated in having nothing else aside from eyewitness books for non-fiction. Non-fiction titles are also pricier, making me more leery of buying sight unseen.

Surely children in school might be interested in non-fiction titles as well. There are some really neat books out there but they’re not in the bookstores. I even went looking at the non-chain bookstore that is the one to go to, but it had next to nothing. It had all of 1 3ft wide shelf of non-fiction books.

No wonder children in school find subjects boring if they have no interesting books that can supplement their learning.

Of course I would like more homeschool material and better organization and a huge leap up in fiction content, but I can scrounge around for fiction titles, so I’m not desperate.

Although I already commented, I am back to mention as an FYI for your readers that Barnes & Noble does have an educator’s discount card available. It is good for 20% off *any *book purchase (and perhaps some non-book items?- I don’t remember) as long as the items are “for classroom use”. (Although my whole house is a classroom, I do try not to take unfair advantage of this wording.) They do ask, *every* time. Yes, some clerks will grimace when you tell them you are a *home* educator, but you know, we are used to that, so big deal. Our local B&Ns even do occasional homeschool discount days, with a percentage of profits going to a local homeschool organization if the customer so designates.

Hello,

One thing I found seriously lacking at the book stores were books on Philosophy that were not PH.D level or long pendantic studies on individual philosophers or the typical (and seriously boring) introductionary books. I was looking for something for high school level students that was interesting but more than just a list of facts. Finally, I used Sophie’s World and created a teaching program from it. My student even wrote his own “book” on philosophy. He wrote the book that he thought we would have purchased had it been available. It is humerous, factual, and very interesting. It is still entry level but has the information needed for a beginner philosphy student. A bit like the silly and fun Action Philosphers series but with useful information as well. I also am looking for a book that takes the fallacies he has learned and lets us see them in action. The examples need to current, real and from situations that the students would recognize in real life. I am sure someone could write this book just using the speeches and advertisements, and news programs from the last presidential election. A CD rom/dvd might even be a better option here.

BTW- Love your books!

Oh, I forgot one. One of the highlights of the Borders in Bailey’s Crossroads for me was that it had a large seating area in the children’s section. And yes it had a Thomas train table and stuffed animals. But it was also a place where we could head to after I’d collected an armful of books and let my little ones play a little while I examined the adult books to see if they wanted to come home and live with us.
This was a really big deal for me when the kids were little. It was sort of shaped like an amphetheatre with carpeted risers. I’m sure that I probably even sat on those risers and nursed a couple of my kids.
But those were back in the day when the children’s section had a wider and deeper selection of books and even a staff person who knew children’s books and would not only make suggestions but have a conversation about books. I don’t know if my negative impression of bookstores is because they’ve all gone downhill or because we just left Hawaii, where the Borders has few chairs (I think because homeless people were sleeping in them) and a token operated door on the bathroom (tokens free at the info desk, but still it’s the little things that make an impression).
Our family easily spends over $1000 a year on books (not counting homeschool curricula). It would be nice to feel like the bookstore cared about that. (Maybe I need to spend more time at independent bookstores next time I’m in the US. I think I’m becoming too cynical.)