That's all great if you live in Berkeley, Boston, New York or in Chicago, but some people live in more obscure places. Try finding Chinese History in Twin Falls or French poetry in Missoula, a college town after all, for those of us living in much of the country if not the world the only way we can find what we are looking for is things like Amazon and ABE. Before the internet I used to buy half my books on vacation or business trips, and I could only buy what was n the store the day I actually visited.