FollowFor those of you that are not hip with the latest Ashland bookstore gossip: The Book Exchange has changed locations from next door to the Standing Stone Brewery in downtown Ashland. It is now located, since November, across the parking lot of Wells Fargo between the minute mart and Tabu.
The Book Exchange is around forty years old, starting as Edna’s Book Exchange for the first twenty years. When I visited The Book Exchange on a warm summer evening, I had the chance to talk to Roy. Roy described the store as a “reader’s book store” because they carry books that people actually read. The walls are covered with classics, mysteries, romance, history and so much more. What I personally enjoy about The Book Exchange is the comfortable atmosphere is provides for customers. It feels like a house of literature or twisty maze of books that stack to the ceiling.
Roy shared his connection to books. He likes books and the type of people that are attracted to books. He also enjoys the culture of books and the physical nature of the books. The book business brings nice people around and Roy finds the bookstore a nice place to work. Out of all of the people I interviewed, Roy was the only one who told me that his favorite type of literature was everything; he reads anything and everything.
Roy’s response to my final question made me hopeful for the future of physical books. Despite Amazon’s revolutionary approach to selling books by concentrating book sales all in once place, Roy believes that “books will be around for a long time.” He explained that books don’t need batteries like a Kindle. Books are easier for research when the research projects requires multiple books. While major bookstores like Barnes and Noble suffer, used book stores may not feel that same pain.
If you have not made the time to visit the new Book Exchange or simply thought it had gone out of business, make sure you make time now! This place appeals to every type of a reader from small children to Sci-Fi readers. The supply is endless, completed with a reasonable price tag on the inside of each book.
