Out Word Bound in Indianapolis

When it opened in 1998, Out Word Bound Book Store succeeded by selling what no other retailer sold.

But times change, and Indianapolis' only gay and lesbian bookstore will close its doors after Christmas.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091128/BUSINESS/911280359/1003/BUSINESS

What made the lgbt bookstores an essential community resource was its function not merely as a bookstore but as a meeting place, an information hub, an organizing principle. They were about face-to-face relationship — important in a social segment where hiding had been the norm for many.

Online retailers can provide information, and community organizing, but even online social networks (such as this one) don't provide the one-on-one social connection — or even group connection — our community so sorely needs. What online retailers do provide that bookstores don't is the illusion of anonymity.

Sad to see another go. If I won the lottery, I'd open a bookstore that didn't depend on sales, but served these other functions.