[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

I knew that name sounded familiar somewhere.

Strange - a town that helps rejuvinate liseuses has such a amivalence towards purchasing the written word! - Although that supermarket in the CNN report appeared to have a very large book section

Originally Posted by LS650

I found this article on CNN.com and found it very interesting:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/22...ex.html?hpt=C2

"That leaves Laredo, Texas, population of 250,000, one of the largest cities in the United States without a bookstore.

The closest bookstore is now 150 miles away, in San Antonio, Texas."

I get that there are issues with literacy rates in this area, but I still find it shocking. I live in a city of roughly the same population, and there are dozens of new and used bookstores, plus several excellent libraries. TO me it's incomprehensible that there isn't enough buying of books to support even one store!

I remember growing up in country and regional Australia and often the bookstore and the written word was the only thing there for me in the stores.
Some of the smaller towns didn't have a bookstore however they always had libraries - and I always was willing to travel to get a good book. I remember getting my first hit of Tolkien (The Hobbit in audiobook) while in Tamworth, New South Wales - population 42,501.
If Americans have trouble providing books (and/or the ability to read) to a quarter of a million people there's definitely something wrong (in the state of Texas).