A sign posted in the window of Morningside Books this morning informs many a sad, staring pedestrian that their beloved local bookstore will be closing in June. As in, next month. 

If you take the time to read the announcement sign in the window, it will tear your heart out.  There is no way to prepare yourself for the sweet, forlorn, and perfectly phrased lament of a quirky little corner bookstore. “We wanted to be the little bookstore that could,” the sign reads. “We couldn’t.”

In the end, the sign informs us, “it’s about money – we never had enough.” At least the management thanks not only the neighborhood but Columbia as well, so we can all feel a little less guilty about every purchase we ever made at the Columbia Bookstore or at Book Culture.

What will we do without Morningside Books? Where else could you be sure to find a reasonably priced Aeneid only thirty seconds’ walk from your LitHum class? Where will you find the newest addition to your “Books to read for fun, eventually” collection? And where, where, oh where, will we buy our vintage anti-Bush paraphernalia?

Here’s to you, Morningside Books. The last surviving truly independent neighborhood bookstore will be sorely missed.