This place? Most of the free books they have are fucking terrible. They sell the good ones.
(I used to eat there when commuting to and from the Hartford area. It's certainly the best combination of convenience and edibility on that particular stretch of highway, but neither the food nor the books are anything to write home about.)
We do Rein's Deli (http://www.reinsdeli.com/) along that stretch. I can never find the exit for FOOD & BOOKS. We always see it after we pass the way to it.
Exit 74. You have to anticipate, because it's before the sign, north and southbound.
I would always be passing Rein's at either 8 in the morning or 5:30 at night, and Vernon's right where the traffic around Hartford gets bad. They're good, but they're not fighting-Connecticut-space-case-drivers good.
It's a wonderful thing, but if you've already decided that your business model is running a second-hand book shop mostly as a labour of love, and because you want people to read books, this actually makes business sense. The books on the porch are probably books the proprietor has bought for ¢10 or thereabouts, or as part of a job lot of other books, and they're on the porch rather than having been thrown out. At times where other second-hand book shops refuse yet another Dan Brown novel, this shop owner takes them in and puts them on the porch. There's probably a fair amount of other stuff that's interesting, but in so bad condition that you couldn't justify selling it at anything other than ¢50 or so.
Maybe some of the porch customers will gravitate towards the rest of the shop, and buy something where there's a bit of margin involved. Maybe they won't. Either way, the shop owner isn't out much.
I understand your dystopian vision of a world where books cannot be resold, libraries are forbidden, and information is not free.
All I was saying was: in a world, like the one we live in, where second hand bookshops are possible, then such an apparently generous offer of porch second-hand books is not only generous and good, but also makes business sense.
These day, second hand bookstores are getting to the point where .50-1.00 currency units is all they can charge anyway, for a lot of books. Obviously there are exceptions, but quite a few are either so glutted or so damaged that even at .50 they will barely sell. And putting them out on the street in wind and weather won't help. So it's essentiually zero-value inventory. But on the plus side, that sign might induce people to donate their books to you instead of the local charity -- and among the boxes of crap might be the occasional saleable book.
I accept your point Duncan. e-books cannot be loaned to your friend and libraries are the first victims of "austerity" measures.
(Old hippie rant) When I was a teenager the Diggers opened a free store across the street from me. It was just what it sounds like: You could take what you needed and leave what you no longer had use for. It ran heavily toward clothing and books, but you would find the same assortment you would in a thrift store. The thing was, it worked for quite a while until that culture went away.
This honestly makes me sad, if anything. Not because it isn't wonderful (of course it is) but because it shines too bright in the murky waters of human inclination. I wish we lived in a better world.
Looking at the London riots, it seems that book shops are generally less likely to get robbed: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/bookshops-avoid-major-damage-london-rioting.html
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-11 10:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-11 10:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 01:48 am (UTC)(I used to eat there when commuting to and from the Hartford area. It's certainly the best combination of convenience and edibility on that particular stretch of highway, but neither the food nor the books are anything to write home about.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 03:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 06:10 am (UTC)I would always be passing Rein's at either 8 in the morning or 5:30 at night, and Vernon's right where the traffic around Hartford gets bad. They're good, but they're not fighting-Connecticut-space-case-drivers good.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 03:34 am (UTC)Since the free books are bad and since the food is mediocre, I /also/ go with Rein's nowadays.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-11 10:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-11 10:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 12:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-15 12:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 01:00 am (UTC)Maybe some of the porch customers will gravitate towards the rest of the shop, and buy something where there's a bit of margin involved. Maybe they won't. Either way, the shop owner isn't out much.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 03:13 am (UTC)All I was saying was: in a world, like the one we live in, where second hand bookshops are possible, then such an apparently generous offer of porch second-hand books is not only generous and good, but also makes business sense.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-15 12:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 06:47 am (UTC)(Old hippie rant) When I was a teenager the Diggers opened a free store across the street from me. It was just what it sounds like: You could take what you needed and leave what you no longer had use for. It ran heavily toward clothing and books, but you would find the same assortment you would in a thrift store. The thing was, it worked for quite a while until that culture went away.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-12 09:45 am (UTC)http://www.thebookseller.com/news/bookshops-avoid-major-damage-london-rioting.html
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-13 06:59 am (UTC)