Book stores battle for Westhampton Beach readers

It’s the battle of the independent book shops in Westhampton Beach, where local patrons and shop owners are boycotting a new entrant to the village, The New York Times reports.
 
The Open Book has been catering to community readers since 1999. But a new, slightly roomier independent shop, Books & Books, opened a few doors down last month.
 
The Times reports that some locals are boycotting the newcomer and a few villagers have marched inside to yell at Books & Books employees.
 
The situation is only getting stickier-- some report that volumes in the new store may have wads of gum tucked between their pages.
 
“Putting the right book in the right hand is what we strive to do and what we love to do,” Open Book owner Terry Lucas posted on her blog Tuesday, after the Times article was published. “While it has been a challenge and we have worked hard to come up with many ways to draw people just around the corner, what is really important is what happens when you walk in the door of our cozy little shop.”

Books & Books owner Jack McKeown declined to comment on the article.