Last December, Barnes & Noble at the Old Orchard mall closed, however this year the store began a new chapter when it reopened in a new location, according to a press release from the Barnes & Noble’s website.
Barnes & Noble is in a new location which covers over 20,000 square feet and houses Paper Source, a stationary and gift retailer based in Chicago, according to NBC Five Chicago on Nov. 14. The store shut down after 27 years in 2021, because the building was old and rundown, James Daunt, Barnes & Noble’s CEO explained in a statement. The original store closing gave the company the opportunity to build a new store, Daunt explained.
Sophomore Mac Lanthrop was excited to find out that the store was reopening as having a location close by is very convenient.
“I was shocked [when I found out the Barnes & Nobles closed],” Lanthrop said. “I was excited [when the store reopened]. stop by [the store] for five to 10 minutes.”
Barnes & Noble reopening is not the only thing for readers to be on the lookout for, since South’s library was recently reorganized to aid students while searching for books, Librarian Lauren Gruber said. Previously, the library’s fiction section was not organized into genres, making it difficult for students to find the specific kind of book they were looking for, she explained. Now, the library is organized into specific genres, like mysteries and romances, and are now each in their own section, Gruber said.
“[We reorganized] to make [the library] look more like a bookstore and to make it easier for students trying to find the type of books they like,” Gruber said.
South’s librarians noticed books found on the Tiktok hashtag “book-tok” were becoming more commonly requested and checked out from the library and has since adapted to make the popular books more accessible. Similarly, Barnes & Noble has followed “book-tok’s” popularity and created its own in store stands dedicated to the books, Gruber said.
“[‘Book-tok’] definitely influenced our top circulating titles last year,” Gruber said. “If you were to look at the list [of books] checked out last year, they would have all been popular on ‘book-tok’.”
“Book-tok” has played a huge role in senior Meg McGavic’s reading choices. She explained that she uses it to find reading recommendations and hear about new authors.
“[‘Book-tok’] has [influenced] me to buy more books from different genres,” McGavic explained. “It’s really helpful for picking out books.”
Lanthrop explained that being able to visit bookstores has a lot of benefits when buying books. She noted that being able to visually see what she is buying is very helpful and that the store’s atmosphere is something she always enjoys.
“[Being in Barnes & Noble] is peaceful,” Lanthrop said. “Everybody is minding their business. If you want to go get a book, [you can].”