If you haven’t seen the romantic comedy classic “You’ve Got Mail,” you haven’t really lived. I started to think about this movie quite often because, at its heart, it’s about bookstores. The film celebrates the independent bookstore and quietly demonizes the corporate one. I don’t want to give too much away about the film, but I will say the independent bookstore doesn’t fare so well in the end. The economy and competition from the big chain store ultimately shut its doors.
When I found out about a month ago that The Bookshop of Chapel Hill is closing for good in July of this year, I thought of Meg Ryan’s character Kathleen gazing one last time over her little bookshop with tears in her eyes — the dream of the independent bookstore surviving was over.
Independent bookstores are essential veins within a community. Every time I visit a new city, I immediately do a Google search for the best local bookstores. There’s nothing more thrilling than running your hands along the spines of books both new and old. A town’s history can be found in the books available at a used bookstore.
I always have felt fondly about The Bookshop of Chapel Hill. Not only do I love the apathetic cats who don’t really care if you pet them or not, but I love the seemingly endless bookshelves holding treasures of all genres. I adore their extensive poetry section, which is a rarity even in independent bookstores.
The Bookshop is where I bought “The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath.” I wandered there in the summer, taking walks from Carrboro in the heat, to buy postcards and escape the blazing sun. In a way, it was a little refuge from the hustle and bustle of UNC.
It saddens me that Chapel Hill is going to lose such a beautiful keeper of our history and culture. Considering that The Bookshop is the only bookstore on Franklin Street, it frustrates me to know independent bookstores still have trouble keeping their doors open.
In “You’ve Got Mail,” after her store closes, Kathleen says, “People are always telling you that change is a good thing. But all they’re really saying is that something you didn’t want to happen at all ... has happened.”
The little bookshop with the cats will always remain in my memory as one of my favorite parts about Chapel Hill. I just hate that one day, when talking to a future UNC student, I’ll have to speak of it in past tense rather than present. I won’t be able to say, “You have to go to The Bookshop!” It’s sad to lose a part of my UNC history so soon; I’m sure many others feel this way, too. It’s hard to imagine any other store taking over that special spot.
The next time you’re tempted to order a book for someone from Amazon, try The Bookshop first. Wander through its aisles and examine a few of its fine books. Pet the cats. Appreciate the goodness of a store that will be gone too soon.
