In this article, I state that Polare
is the quintessential canary in the coal mine, which signals again and again
that this is not just about the collapse of a leading bookstore chain. This is
about the future of Dutch city centers, about a knowledge economy and about the
quality of Dutch culture. Although the focus is on the Netherlands, bookstores are under threat in other countries, including the U.S. I believe that this is a bad development not just for the book industry, but for culture as expressed in these stores. Below follows my complete article:
During
my recent visit to Holland, where I met fellow publishers and bookstore owners
to discuss developments in the book trade, naturally the situation at Polare came up. Now back in my home town
New York, I keep following a steady stream of Dutch commentaries about Polare, like by author Kluun, who
doesn’t consider the apparent disappearance of old-fashioned “reading books for hours and hours” a problem,
or by journalist Max Pam, who says he just needs small but knowledgeable
bookstores, or others who blame Polare’s
management for its demise, and then the news about the Dutch publishers’
initiative to set up a streaming
subscription service for e-Books. All contain some truth and value, but miss a bigger
picture. Polare is the quintessential
canary in the coal mine, which signals again and again that this is not just
about the collapse of a leading bookstore chain. This is about the future of
Dutch city centers, about a knowledge economy and about the quality of Dutch
culture.
Before
I continue, let me say something about my own background. I’ve been involved as
founder-publisher of a specialized book publisher in New York that since its
inception has been using digital technology, both on-demand printing and
e-Books. Although I am a great proponent of technological innovation, I don’t
believe that technology alone can solve every problem.
Let’s
now return to the perfect storm Polare
got into.
