Obama on Martha's Vineyard: Will he stop by an independent bookstore this summer?
Booksellers are watching and wondering: Will President Barack Obama stop by an independent bookstore during this summer's Martha鈥檚 Vineyard vacation?
In previous visits to Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, Obama often stopped by the Bunch of Grapes independent bookstore to pick up a few titles. However, some in the indie book world weren鈥檛 pleased when the president traveled to an Amazon warehouse in Tennessee during the summer of 2013 to praise the company.
鈥淭he Amazon facility in Chattanooga is a perfect example of the company that is investing in American workers and creating good, high-wage jobs,鈥� White House deputy press secretary Amy Brundage said at the time. 鈥淲hat the president wants to do is to highlight Amazon and the Chattanooga facility as an example of a company that is spurring job growth and keeping our country competitive.鈥�
Some objections were quickly raised after the planned visit became known, with the staff and several indie bookstore workers sending a letter to Obama saying that 鈥淎mazon鈥檚 business practices are actually harming small businesses and the American economy鈥� and that 鈥淎mazon 鈥� slashing prices far below cost on numerous book titles is further evidence that it will stop at nothing to garner market share at the expense of small businesses that cannot afford to sell inventory below their cost of acquisition.鈥�
During his 2013 summer visit to the Vineyard, Obama skipped going to Bunch of Grapes as he had before, though as Monitor contributor Danny Heitman pointed out, 鈥淢aybe Obama didn鈥檛 relish the prospect of picking out books with the rest of the world looking over his shoulder.鈥�
So will the president stop by Bunch of Grapes or Edgartown Books this year? Hillary Clinton is signing copies of her book 鈥淗ard Choices鈥� today at Bunch of Grapes, which could be a reason for Obama to go or to avoid the area. Either way, the book industry will be watching to see whether Obama goes book-shopping this summer.
