A few months ago, Borders in Dickson City closed, as the company went bankrupt and closed all of its stores across the nation. This closing followed the loss of Anthology New and Used Books in Scranton. Without these two stores, Lackawanna County no longer had a full-fledged bookstore.

When all of this happened over the spring and summer, I bemoaned the loss of these stores, realizing it was a real loss to the community and all of the writers and customers that frequented these places. Well, the good news is that a new bookstore, Books-A-Million, will soon fill the space Borders used to occupy.

An article that ran in The Scranton Times about two weeks ago stated the store should have opened by Nov. 4.  My girlfriend and I went down there on Friday to see if it opened yet, and it did not. However, a lot of the shelves were filled with books, and as we looked through the window, I noticed some of the folks that worked at Borders were stocking shelves. So, I’m happy that at least some of the Borders employees that were laid off have jobs again.

I don’t know what Books-A-Million will be like. According to the recent article, they will have several book sections, a cafe, and magazine rack. I just hope people support this place, considering it’s the only full-fledged bookstore the whole county has. Though I now live closer to two Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million will be closer to the college where I teach, so I do plan to frequent it.