Literature sections keep dwindling
Scifi, Manga, Toys and self-help keep growing and the Fiction/Literature sections are dismal at B&N now. Is it because everyone wants childish reads or doesn't read these days?
Take the B's for example, no W.S Burrouhgs, No J.G. Ballard, No Djuana Barnes, No Samuel Butler... and on and on. Yet Young Adult keeps growing and I see kids in their 20's shopping that section. I call them kids because they're looking at books that were traditionally middle school level or lower.
And yes, there are smaller independents I can go to but I'd like to pick up a book worth reading occasionally at B&N.
In the 90's when I supervised at one we had a rich literature section and a fantastic art section, none of the toys. We had a Books-In-Print system that we could order anything from and stock the shelves. So if this new move for more independence has done anything it sure hasn't taken it back to a literary hub for towns.