"With our stores closed and the future of social gatherings uncertain, our booksellers have been talking a lot about what it means to be a Third Place in the time of quarantine. For those unfamiliar, our name is derived from sociologist Ray Oldenberg, who proposed that every person needs three places: 1) your home, 2) your work or school, and 3) your community space. When only our first place is available in these times of unprecedented isolation, how do we recreate and re-envision that crucial third place? As a company that is literally defined by its role as a social gathering space, how do we find ways to bring that foundational role into our community's first places? Building on Eric's fantastic blog post a few days ago (check it out here), I wanted to weigh in on some concrete steps we're taking to reimagine what it means to be a community space in the time of quarantine." (Promo Copy)