Never saw this thread. Was obviously long before my registration.
Well, I am working at an independetly owned bookstore for 15 years now, after studying librarianship for a few years in Hamburg mid 1990s. It is unusual to do it this turn around because is seems to be a setback, but to be honest, all those (academic) libraries I worked at for a few months were so ...outmoded, boring and some kind of ivory-tower, that I love to be "among" customers, being on my feet, lively, not sitting around all day. You really have your finger on the pulse of the time, it is all very fast and people react promptly often by buying the right book for every little thing that occures in their life.. Could be paid better, and the times have been better 10 years ago, but it is also a fact that never more books have been published within one year's time than these days. So everybody stating that the "book is dead" should take a look at Frankfurt Book Fair and is healed for the moment.
I think it is remarkable that the team in our shop is more or less the same since 15 years, with the occasional changing trainee, so nice team work is another reason for my staying there. And I do the purchase department and can pretty much do what I want - as long as it works out.
Dream: Seeing a catalogue that announces the new Mark Knopfler biography "Memory Lane", 800 pages, with 200 unreased photographs, audio book read my MK himself, written by Mark and Kitty together...
Dreams...
LE