When my family first moved to Hillsboro, the lone bookstore on Main Street--Jacobsen's--closed almost immediately. On the far, more transient side of town, the Barnes and Noble near 185th also shut its doors, to be replaced by an In and Out Burger that never came to fruition.
Neither of those developments spoke well of the intellectual curiosity or literacy of this town.
I understand that Hillsboro has invested heavily into the tech sector, and that many of the STEM folks don't necessarily value a rounded education or arts and humanities. It explains much of the unpleasant and draconian turn our society's taken in recent years, but when the local library system cares more about its "library of things" than the actual volumes it contains, it's can be daunting for someone accustomed to communities where personal libraries are larger than some of the branches here.
As a result, the Arcade's services here are invaluable. Sure, the population can ride the Max to Cedar Hills and hit Powell's, pop into one of the myriad bookstore in Portland or continue killing proprietary reading by handing money over to Amazon, but the team at Arcade absorbed a bunch of Jacobsen's supply and supplements it with plenty of its own.
I freely admit that its broadest categories--romance, mystery, historical fiction, Oregoniana--are not my favorites. But their literature and poetry sections are well curated and rotate more frequently than I'd expect. Also, the best part of a local bookstore is that if they don't have something in stock, you can simply ask for it on order. You get what you want and you kick them a little something extra for their trouble.
Since moving to Oregon full time, I've been coming here with my family as regularly as time allows. They've helped me track down books written by favorite authors and friends, they've provided gift certificates for birthdays and holidays and they have the best selection of counter candy in the city. The front-desk banter provides the perfect background for browsing, while some of the antiques spread throughout the store hold gems within their drawers and cupboards.
Word on the street is that the current owners are retiring, and I wish them well. They've been running the store nearly as long as I've been alive, and that's a considerable stretch of time. The more promising word on the same street is that the owners of another Washington County literary institution--Jan's in Beaverton--are taking over. If that's the case, I expect our best-kept secret down the hall will become a far more active member of the community in the near future.
A thriving community should value its cultural institutions as much as its homes, industry and education. Hillsboro has not always held these pillars in equal measure, but recent developments at Arcade give me hope for the near future. read more