BORDERS WILL THREATEN US AND ALL INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY We are not afraid of competition, but the chain bookstores have a record of not playing fair. The American Booksellers Association recently won a law suit against several large publishers who had been giving discounts (not based on volume) and promotional allowances to chain stores that were not available to independents. A similar suit is now pending against Borders and Barnes & Noble, both of whom , we believe, continue to use unfair and illegal business practices to bully publishers into unfair terms of trade.

BORDERS WILL BE BAD FOR CAPITOLA AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTY Residents and tourists love this area because of its natural beauty and its unique shops. An increase in the number of chain businesses such as those in the new Gateway shopping center on River Street will further destroy what makes Santa Cruz unique and turn our town into a coastal version of San Jose, Fresno, Anywhere U.S.A. A big-box development on Bay Avenue will only add to the already impacted traffic problems condemning the area to permanent gridlock. Local businesses keep money reinvested in the community while chain stores send their profits out of state to shareholders and corporate headquarters.

CHAIN BOOKSELLING IS BAD FOR OUR CULTURE In a bookstore, the product is more than a commodity. Books are the lifeblood of our culture's ideas and stories. Over the past twenty years the Capitola Book Café has served as a forum for the sharing of views and information through its ongoing reading series, a series that has secured award-winning writers despite many publishers resistance to bringing their authors to such a "small market." The replacement of independent bookstores with national chains does not just affect where people buy books; it also affects what books they can buy. Recently large publishers have been approving or rejecting prospective books based on whether or not executives at larger chains like Borders think they will sell. A diverse community of booksellers, with a broad range of different buyers, is essential for the free exchange of ideas.

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