The city of Pico Rivera in eastern Los Angeles County used federal grant money to lure a Borders to their community. Unfortunately, this particular Borders is on the list of stores to be closed. This article suggests that the city may have to continue to subsidize either all or part of the store’s rent for another three years (though the shopping center owner is responsible for making a good faith effort to fill the space).

When I worked for a member of Congress, Pico Rivera was in my congresswoman’s district (and I can attest that the Pico Rivera Councilman Bob Archuleta, mentioned in the article, is a good man, as is his son Matthew, who graduated from West Point last year).

Though this may seem like a cautionary tale, I would argue that bringing a bookstore to a community that lacked one is an admirable and important effort. Too many towns and cities are becoming “book deserts,” where citizens have to drive long distances to find a bookstore. This is an especially bad situation for the next generation – children benefit from being exposed to a culture that values books and reading as civic virtues and part of the common good. In addition, until the closure, the city was pulling in more than three times as much in sales tax revenue as they were paying out in subsidies (and that doesn’t event include the benefits that came from having the creation of jobs and other multiplier effects).