Walking from The Baltimore Sun offices to Charles Street, I've often passed the small store run by the Maryland Bible Society.
The pretty building, with limestone carvings, was like one of those specialty shops you find tucked away in a corner of Manhattan. And it was oddly pleasing to think that someone could survive on such limited offerings this far from the Bible Belt.
Well, the Sun reports today that the society has gone completely digital -- closing the downtown store and selling Bibles and related material online. That's quite a change for an organization that has been around for a couple of centuries, and whose past presidents include the guy for whom Ft. McHenry is named.
But as reporter Jessica Anderson notes, the society's transformation mirrors the changes being felt by major booksellers. Just last weekend, I was in Chicago, and was sad to see a big, empty store on Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile, where until recently Borders had a marquee store.
That won't be the last.