Whenever we make public appearances on behalf of this newspaper, we almost always field variations of three questions.
Far and away, the most commonly asked is “What’s the deal with Marilyn Beane?”
The second most popular question usually has to do with the seven-column width of our publication. The third, sometimes asked delicately, sometimes bluntly proffered, is some variation of “Is The Lincoln County News going to survive the ongoing changes in the media industry today?”
This third question is the trickiest to answer because who knows what the future holds? In the areas we can control, we are confident we are as solid as a small business in a rapidly changing industry can be. Things beyond our control are just that.
We do know that regardless of whether The Lincoln County News is here or not, the need for the service we provide will not go away. People want to know what is going on their communities and they will do what they have to do to find out, whether they gossip with the neighbors, read an old-fashioned newspaper like ours, or download the latest digital update via their smartphone.
Regardless of the means, the need to know will continue. One hundred years in the future, newsprint may be an exotic relic of the past and community newspapers like ours may dispense their information via satellite download directly into some computer chip subscribers have implanted in their heads, but the essential function will remain the same.
Which brings us to the news the Maine Coast Book Shop and Café is for sale. This is a changing of the guard moment for Damariscotta’s downtown.
We commend Susan and Barnaby Porter for carrying the independent bookseller’s torch locally so proudly and so well for so long. Theirs is a great store. The staff is outstanding, the selection is fantastic, dogs are welcome, and the coffee is excellent.
They have done a great job with their business and we wish them well. Like ours, theirs is a business in an industry that is changing by the day. The fact is, while more people are consuming more information than ever, people don’t consume books like they used too and brick and mortar businesses have suffered for it.
We can’t speak to the future of the bookstores, happily deferring to those who are more informed about the industry, but the Maine Coast Book Shop and Café is less a simple store than it is a destination. The café serves as a de facto meeting place in the community, and after your second or third visit, someone on staff is likely to greet you by name.
That need, a place for the community to be, will not go away. The Porters were smart to recognize that and fill that void. The Maine Coast Book Shop and Café may go away as such. It will certainly change in some respects with new ownership, but the function that store served under the Porters’ watch is eternal.
In the near future, the Porters themselves may not be on Main Street to provide that service, but someone will.
