Bookseller in Normal May Change Plans in Wake of Border’s Bankruptcy

The announced closure of the Border's store in Normal could change the approach of a locally owned bookstore. Sarah Lindenbaum manages Babbitt's books, located near Illinois State University.

She says her store, which sells solely used books, has been anticipating the Border's closing. Lindenbaum said her store buys a lot of trade paperbacks that customers have bought at Border's.

"Are people going to be bringing as many?," she said. "But again, there are still bookstores in Peoria, there's still Barnes and Noble in Bloomington. And another thing we've discussed as far as what would happen if Border's closes, and maybe even Barnes and Noble, is would we start to stock new books and try to capitalize on that."

Lindenbaum said if her store did sell new books, it would take more than a year before those sales could take place. She said Babbitt's took a dip with the recession, but has rebounded lately, and has retained all of its regular customers. And Lindenbaum said she thinks there will continue to be a market for modern first editions and collectable books.