One thing which you will quickly become aware of is the fact that I am an avid book lover, and I’m not afraid to show it. As such, one of the things about living in Medicine Hat that gets to me after a while is our distinct lack of quality book stores. We have one Coles, and two or three second-hand book stores.

I’m a great fan of second-hand book stores as I can often find unusual books and of course it definitely helps my pocketbook. That being said, you never really know if you will be able to find anything you are interested in. It makes the task of finding series in order and certain authors very difficult.

Coles, which is located in the Medicine Hat Mall, is a decent book store – the only drawback is that it is disappointingly tiny. Of course they have recently gone though a renovation which opened up the store remarkably – allowing for more shelves and more room to move around without stepping on other customers toes.

As nice as it looks, and as friendly as the staff is, it can only hold a small inventory of books. Sure, you can order books in, but personally, when I go book shopping it is my intention to find a book that I can read now.

I’m not usually a supporter of the big chain businesses – but I’ll make an exception in this case. It is nearly impossible to make it as an independent bookstore, and I would rather have access to books than avoid the big businesses. And damn it if I don’t want to sit and sip a delectable coffee while happily reading my newest purchase – that they actually had in stock.

I’ve done a little research on the size of cities in Canada that have a Chapters or other large bookstore. I’ve found that while the majority are the big cities (which have several), there are a number which are slighter larger, or smaller than the Hat, which are graced with one. If population is the determining factor, I think we are about ready!

We need to get the people reading – it’s so hard to find books here, most people just don’t bother. Kids have so little access to books they might actually like, they grow up with video games instead.

Do you think I’ll ever get my big book store?