Many of the same people who bemoan the lack of literacy in American society, or its general frivolity, will be the same ones that refuse to actually pay for serious work. They get their books from a local library, or borrow them from friends, or just get the cheapest version possible via an ebook reader like Kindle, or another discounted format on Amazon.

But if you want something to survive, you need to support it – that means paying for the product. If you want a local bookstore to survive and prosper, buy something there – don’t window shop and then buy it on Amazon. Every book that you borrow from a friend is that much less revenue for the publisher and author and, believe me, the vast majority of authors and publishers need that revenue. So buy that book! Better yet, pay full price. And then you can think of yourself as a patron of the arts.