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Darian Reed

Mrs. DeBock

English IV Honors

6 April 2017

Bookstores Are More Beneficial Than Libraries

Libraries have many perks that are offered when you borrow a book. Though libraries can be

favored by some readers, bookstores far outweigh libraries when you compare the benefits that

both have to offer. Purchasing books breaks the limits that most libraries place on a reader when

he or she borrows a book. Bookstores, unlike libraries, give readers the opportunity to be more

creative with their books, explore a vast collection of unlimited uncensored stories, as well as

give readers a warm and friendly experience than numerous libraries struggle to produce.

Libraries many allow for people to borrow books for free over a limited period of time, but

bookstores allow a person to purchase a book and have a lifetime to experience the book and

make the book personal to himself or herself.

Bookstores give people the opportunity to purchase books and call them their own;

owning the book gives the reader liberty to grasp the book on a different level than a reader

would experience from simply borrowing the book from the library. It is is beneficial for families

to own books since it increases the household literacy rate and introduces new ideas to others. A

study done on 17,000 children shows that 80% of the children had a noticeable connection

between childrens ability to read and their access to books of their own at home (Poulton).

Owning books has a positive influence on children since it gives them the opportunity to read

outside of school, stretching and expanding a childs reading ability. It has been proven in
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schools that children learning to read improve with learning how to read through ebooks. Ebooks

open up opportunities for young children to grow a strong bond with literacy; some of these

bonds are formed with options such as text-to-speech capabilities and built-in dictionaries, both

of which help young children understand a variety of words and the story that he or she is

reading (Vaughn). Ebooks are offered on bookstore websites in mass quantities, this makes it

easier for parents and students to have access to books that simply download onto any

compatible device, meaning that children have the convenience of books with assistance at his or

her fingertips. Readers learn and connect with books more when they mark the book and write

on the pages, which they can only do with books that they own. People should be able to write in

their books since it allows for them to communicate their thoughts and emotions that they feel

while reading a book; this allows some readers to share his or her books with others and improve

upon the experience the next reader has, especially if that reader the next reader is a child

learning to read (Leveen). Readers are not permitted to write in books that he or she borrows

from a library is it is not their property and is usually considered vandalism, so if a reader buys

the book instead of borrowing it, then the reader is able to experience making a book personal

and unique to himself or herself. Owning books has numerous benefits for readers of every age

group, and owning the books you read can also me that you form a more personal connection to

different books.

Since ebooks are becoming more popular, bookstores and libraries need to compete in

order to continue drawing in readers; and bookstores have an array of book platforms to choose

from as well as simple details that make a readers experience in a bookstore more comfortable.

Bookstores are more welcoming to readers in the sense that the overall feeling of a bookstore is
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more warm and open while a library does not have the same kind of atmosphere. The atmosphere

created in a bookstore is formed by the music, smell, and lighting of bookstores compared to

libraries; the traits all contribute to the bookstore drawing in more people since it is comforting

for numerous readers to have warm welcoming smells and quiet music while they are browsing

through the books at the store (Rippel). Compared to various libraries bookstores can be seen as

cozy and friendly, which encourages more readers to desire going to a bookstore over a library.

Bookstores sell more ebooks than libraries have available for people to borrow, and ebooks are

becoming increasingly popular among readers. Since ebooks are becoming more popular, a fear

of the decrease of hard copy books has begun to spread, Some bibliophiles have expressed fears

that e-books will mean the end of traditional print books and the libraries that house

them,(Berger). Ebooks becoming increasingly popular with the readers, so for numerous books

this means that they are not available in hard copy form and are only available on online

bookstores, this limits the amount of books that are available in libraries. Libraries do not allow

food and drinks while many bookstores now sell coffee and snacks for readers to have while they

sit down to work and read. Quite a few readers also find that bookstores are better than libraries

since bookstores offer coffee and tea for customers to purchase, while libraries, on the other

hand, do not allow for food or drinks to be in the building (Rippel). Refreshments for readers

cause for bookstores to draw in more readers since the readers would not have to leave the

building to find food or drinks, they could simply go to the built-in coffee shop. The unique

experience that bookstores offer readers draws readers in much easier than libraries, and a

bookstores multimedia platform gives readers a variety of book types to choose.

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The counterargument that quite a few people have concerning bookstores versus libraries

is that libraries are more beneficial for readers than bookstores. Those who favor libraries list

that one of the perks is that the books are free for people to borrow; For the frugal consumer,

no price is more glorious than free or in the case of public libraries, already paid for through

taxes, (Karp 1). Though books are free to borrow from libraries, a person might have to be

placed on a waiting list to get their hands on the books, and once a reader are able to take the

book home the person still has a limited amount of time to read the book before having to return

it for the next person. People who enjoy libraries more than bookstores say that bookstores are

full of people who are just selling books for the money and not the benefit of the reader. Dave

Astor says that bookstores support a government institution while buying from bookstores is

most likely only supporting a greedy corporation. Though bookstores are the main source of

profit for publishing companies, bookstores still outweigh libraries quite often when the size of

the collection is compared. This is especially due to bookstores in the United States almost never

having to be concerned with banned or challenged books. Libraries also help to encourage some

people to read more books a year because of a time limit (Astor). Though a librarys time limit

might encourage some people to read more books in a short period of time, bookstores have

more books on their shelves since bookstores do not have to worry about books being banned.

This is not the case for libraries in the United States since statistics show that public libraries

take up forty-five percent of the locations in which books are challenged and banned as of 2015

(Admin). Many readers favor libraries because the books are free and they deem that the price of

the books from bookstores is not worth the experience the receive from owning the book, but

bookstores give readers better opportunities than libraries since the reader can own the book.
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Libraries are commonly the only experience children have with books, since many of the

childrens parents deem that bookstores are a waste of time and money. Bookstores open up a

world of opportunity that libraries could never dream of achieving with the limits that are place

on the readers. Libraries have been limiting the creativity of reader with the limited collection of

books, the increase in censorship, and an unwelcoming atmosphere. More people should think

about expanding their personal library at home before going to the library to borrow books.

Especially since owning a book can benefit children as well as adults since they are able to

interact with the books everyday making that each book unique and personal to each person and

family.

Works Cited

Admin. "Infographics." Banned & Challenged Books. N.p., 07 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Apr.

2017.

Astor, Dave. "Is It Best to Buy or Borrow Books?" The Huffington Post. 28 Sept. 2011.

Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

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Berger, Adam. "Print Vs. Digital Media: Overview." Points of View: Print Vs. Digital

Media, p. 1. EBSCOhost, 1 Mar. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Karp, Gregory. "Why Buy When You Can Borrow Instead?" Tribunedigital-

chicagotribune. Chicago Tribune, 15 May 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

Leveen, Steve. "Why You Should Write in Your Books Now." The Huffington Post, 07

Oct. 2009. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Poulton, Lizzie. "A Book of Their Own: How Owning Books Affects Children's

Literacy." A Book of Their Own: How Owning Books Affects Children's Literacy |

National Literacy Trust. National Literacy Trust, 7 July 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

Rippel, Chris. "What Libraries Can Learn from Bookstores." WebJunction. N.p., 21 Mar.

2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

Vaughn, Vanessa E. "Counterpoint: E-Books Offer Significant Advantages over Printed

Books That Will Attract New Readers." Points of View: Print Vs. Digital Media, p. 1.

EBSCOhost, 1 Mar. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.