Technical bookshelves seem to have vanished in Princeton, NJ.

[NNadir]

When I first moved to the Princeton area in the early 1990's one of the most magnificent places in the whole town, for me at least, was the university bookstore, then on University place. One could go in there at lunch and just browse walls of books on higher mathematics, advanced chemistry, concentrations of the punctilios in physics, computer science.

I always found myself like a kid in a candy shop, although the candies were very expensive. However I often asked "Santa," in this case my wife, for books from that store. It was magnificent.

I don't know whether you've noticed, but the age of the university bookstore, across the country, is over, and certainly this includes Princeton University. Most university bookstores have been outsourced to Barnes and Nobel, with the result that most university bookstores are uninteresting over all, and feature books like "Killing so and so," by the racist moron Bill O'Reilly.

Sigh...

Princeton designated Labyrinth books on Nassau Street as its bookstore, and overall, Labyrinth is decidedly not Barnes and Nobel. It's still a fine, rich, bookstore, but...

Last I was in there, before Covid, their Chemistry section was withered, but they still had a decent number of math and engineering texts. Two years ago I was able to buy several technical engineering works for my son for Christmas.

I went in and downstairs yesterday. It's all gone now.

Sigh...

One can still buy technical books, of course, on line, direct from the publishers, but there's nothing like being able to browse and in so doing, expand your mind...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. There used to be a scientific and technical bookstore in downtown DC, near the White House.

Used to be.

[erronis]

2. Reiters. And a great map store. All undercut by online book sales.

However, my bookshelves at home groan under the weight of scientific (and software development) tomes. I'd be happy to send you several 100 if you'll pay the shipping.

[erronis]

5. And it looks like it is still there. Haven't been in that neck of the woods for 20 years, tho.

https://www.reiters.com/

[erronis]

3. Of course the university book store markup was horrendous. And many were required reading for

certain courses taught by the professors who wrote the books.

Nowadays with science and technology changing so rapidly it doesn't seem to make sense to spend $100 on a book that won't be worth $10 in 5 years.

Of course history and literature have a slower and better evolutionary history.

And then psychology and pop-science are almost worth nothing as soon as they get off the best-sellers list.

[ruet]

9. Conversely...

You can't sell them back to the store or to the next schlep who comes along at the end of the term.

[Submariner]

4. If you pass through Harvard Square sometime

The Coop bookstore I roamed around as high schooler during the '60s is still rich in the sciences today.

"Established in 1882, the Coop serves as the campus store for the Harvard and MIT communities and is the official bookstore for these storied academic communities."

https://store.thecoop.com

[NNadir]

6. Thanks. My son is applying to MIT for graduate school.

If he gets in, I'm sure to visit and will check it out.

[leftieNanner]

10. Cool. What field?

My daughter got her PhD at MIT in 2019. Chemistry.

[NNadir]

11. Nuclear Engineering.

His undergraduate and his free Masters were in Materials Science, of course, an important area in nuclear engineering.

Congrats to your daughter.

[leftieNanner]

12. How exciting!

Best of luck to him.

And thanks.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. When my sons would visit colleges they were thinking of applying,

I always spent time in the school bookstore. You learn a lot about a school -- or at least back 20 or 25 years ago you did -- from the school bookstore.

[NNadir]

8. That used to be true. It's less true now, I think.

They really don't have bookstores anymore overall, except for class textbooks, usually behind some counter. They've mostly been sterilized into a Barnes and Nobel McDonald's of books.

I check out libraries to understand universities; for some you need access passes.

The Princeton University Library is one of the world's great libraries I think. Regrettably, since Covid, only staff, students, and faculty are admitted.

I more or less lived in the library for over 20 years. Happily for me, I have on line access to many journals, but it's just not the same outside of a library. There is something ineffably wonderful about the space of libraries; they're sacred spaces in my view.

I find the loss of the bookstore to be tragic though. As my life winds down, much magic seems to be fading away.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. It never occurred to me to check out a school's library.

Although I'm not sure how to assess a library. Bookstores were easy for me. I'd look at the books for the classes, paying more attention to the courses I knew something about. And then I wanted to see a large selection of fiction and non-fiction books, and definitely not just the top 100 books from Borders.

[amerikat]

13. I grew up near there. Hamilton Square NJ.

Loved the U-store. Couldn't afford most of the offerings but I did enjoy browsing. Such a beautiful campus. I was in high school at the time and the university was a refuge for me. Loved Main St, PJ's pancake house, the movie theater, and the head shops. Renwicks was still there at the time. Live in upstate NY now. Very fond memories of Princeton. Sacred place for me. Used to do walks on the institute for advanced studies where Einstein lived for many
years.

[amerikat]

14. Do You remember when the library was open to anyone and everyone.

Many levels below ground. Open to all. Those were the days I look back on with glee.

[NNadir]

17. That was before my time. They've required access passes for Firestone...

...ever since I lived here.

A few years back they added Lewis and Engineering to the mix.

I paid it cheerfully.

Now the libraries are completely closed to the public. I ran into one of the librarians from Engineering in the supermarket who told me they've moved Engineering from the beautiful location in Friend to some dark area in Fine Hall.

It breaks my heart. My whole family used to go to that space to study and read. I'd go aline and eat Hoagies from Hoagie Heaven in the nice space in the building lobby.

Covid has done great damage to the wonders of Princeton. It's still a wonderful place, but definitely not what it once was.

[amerikat]

15. and don't forget the Train from Campus to Princeton Junction.

TheGitnee. Check spelling.