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By David Rothman

image America is losing malls in this recession. And coincidentally or not, the number of bookstores keeps shrinking as well. Michael Cairns at PersonaNonData chronicles the latest bookstore shutdowns by Borders/Walden.

The decline of mall is one reason why e-books and e-stores aren’t just an option for publishers and for retailers such as Borders. They’re a must. Except from the New York Times:

There are roughly 1,500 malls in the United States, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, many of them ailing, some of them being converted into office buildings, and others closing their doors for good.

As the book business depends more and more on e-books, the damage from eBabel and DRM will grow. Publishers need to understand that books are competing with video games, HDTV and many other alternatives, and that consumers want to enjoy books on a variety of devices. Lost e-book sales will increasingly mean lost book sales of any kind.

Yet another sign that E is on the way up: E Ink is hiring despite deteriorating economy (MobileRead). Yep, this is just one job. But I suspect there’ll be others.

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