Like so many of us, I care about books, and bookstores, and libraries, too. I like the feel of a hard cover; it adds gravitas to my reading even when the plot is thin. And I know I’m proprietary about my books, as I don’t really like to lend them out, even to friends. If someone appears terribly interested in what I am reading, I gift her or him with a copy, keeping my own close at hand. When a friend or colleague writes a book, I usually buy one, recommend it to others, and try to get the library to purchase one. It is all part of the ritual of friendship.

I have a special place in my heart for independent bookstores, those quirky shops where books are arranged to the owner’s taste, sometimes in recognizable categories and sometimes not. It makes the hunt all the more enjoyable, roaming from area to area, searching out favorite authors or themes, collecting volumes under my arm as I proceed through the aisles. I enjoy the unpredictability of discovery in an independent — the special theme table designed by a new staff member, an anniversary shelf on classics. Many independents sponsor local (as well as national) author readings and work closely with book clubs. Yes, the prices are often a little higher than an online shop or the discount of Wal-Mart, but service is usually high, the staff knowledgeable, and they are readers. What fun it is to see the highlighted recommendation of a Generation X sales clerk who has recently finished a volume and expounds on its magic.

When I read of the passing of a bookshop, or its owner, I mourn, for I sense a tradition slowly coming to an end, like so many of the things I grew up with. Recently two old friends announced they are considering moving on. Harvard Book Store(s) is for sale, its owner, Frank Kramer, interested in doing new things. When his father started the business in 1932, he first sold used books and then moved into academic books (not textbooks). Now the store is an icon in Harvard Square. Nearby independents, The Boston Globe tells us, the Old Corner Bookstore, Buddenbrooks, and Lauriat’s in Boston, and Reading International and WordsWorth in Cambridge, have already closed their doors.

Likewise, the management of Bunch of Grapes in Vineyard Haven, Mass., my summer reading oasis, is soon to change. Jon Nelson, the current proprietor, wants to try something else. His family has owned the store for 35 years: first his father, then his mother, and now he operates it. In 2003, Publisher’s Weekly held a competition, and Bunch of Grapes was named “national bookseller of the year.” Every summer morning at 9 the store opens and the crowd flocks in for daily newspapers, perhaps another book for the guest room, a postcard to send to the kids at camp, and a glimpse of a local author. Its two benches outside the front door are a prominent meeting place for families, each member wandering in her or his own direction until the arranged time to “meet in front of the bookstore.” The person arriving first knows she has a few minutes to roam through the store until the others gather, enough time for another look at the history of whaling or a bluefish recipe.

Washington has an active PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and I enjoy its readings and special events, rubbing shoulders with folks who can make words sing sweetly or turn a phrase with sharp wit. Its Writers in the City program places writers in the D.C. public schools, to inspire the next generation of readers. Students are each given a free copy of the book by the author who is visiting their school, and teachers are given resource material to prepare for the discussion. The encounters often excite the students and humble the authors. The next generation of readers is in training and the young need strong local libraries and independent bookstores nearby to give them sustenance.

Washington is also blessed with several wonderful independent stores: Politics and Prose, owned by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade; Kramerbooks, Dupont Circle’s meeting place for nearly three decades; and Lambda Rising are three of the wonderful local assortment. But in recent years, the marvelous art bookstore, Franz Bader Bookstore, went out of business; the Mystery Book Store closed its doors; the Cheshire Cat (one of the nation’s premier children’s bookstores) gave up its singular location and merged with Politics and Prose; and the travel bookstore moved, and moved again, downsizing each time.

The mega-chains have expanded into many of Washington’s neighborhoods, not just to the suburban shopping malls, and each time they come into a local area, an independent must tighten its belt and build its resilience. For those interested in the romance and economics of this saga, watch the film You’ve Got Mail, and you’ll see how Fox Books gobbles up the “Shop Around the Corner.”