Libraries, in turn, have learned from the giant retailers. Many libraries now sell coffee drinks and set up elaborate displays, even train tables, patterned after those at the bookstores, said Cynthia Richey, a 30-year librarian in Mount Lebanon, Pa.
But libraries can't compete dollar for dollar with the retailers on such amenities as stain-retardant carpeting and raised storyteller stages.
Parents such as Cathy McQueney, here with son Will, often shop, get a coffee or read with children at bookstores. One chain executive says parents spend two hours each visit.
(Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
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"A lot of the parents like to go to the bookstore because now they can get the latte and they can buy their CD," said Richey, a past president of the Association for Library Service to Children. "I'm not sure they're always buying when they go to the bookstore."
Library use nationwide has held steady since 1995, the year the first Washington area Barnes & Noble superstores opened in Falls Church and Georgetown. The number of items checked out rose from 1.6 billion that year, or 6.4 items for every man, woman and child in the nation, to 1.8 billion in 2001, or 6.5 per person. That is the most recent figure available from the American Library Association.
Borders and Barnes & Noble brought their superstores to the Washington suburbs in large numbers in the late 1990s; both chains arrived in Prince William County, for example, in 1998. The Barnes & Noble in Annapolis opened in 1997, Borders in 2001.
Most parents at the recent story time at the Annapolis Borders, held on a Thursday morning, identified themselves as stay-at-home mothers; at least one nanny was in attendance, as was a father on family leave from his job at the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The children's departments can become mob scenes on Saturdays. Weekend mornings seem to bring out a number of working fathers who have given their spouses a few hours of freedom, the companies say.
Most parents can tick off a list of other retailers that provide sanctuary and playtime for their children: the Disney Store, which typically offers roaming space and large video screens toward the back of the shop; Pottery Barn Kids, with their play cash registers and kitchen sets; and Ikea, known for its PlayStations.
"I think there's really been a change in the past five years," said Leigh Oshirak, spokeswoman for Pottery Barn Kids, who recalls growing up in the "don't touch" era of children's retailing.
"If you're going to sell a little grocery store, or a kitchen, you've got to have it out there so kids can play with it. Yes, it's to delight the children, but it's also to help the parents, who need 10 minutes to make a purchase," Oshirak said.
Lisa Frueh of Upper Marlboro takes her toddler daughter, Lexington, to many of those places. But on a recent weekday morning, she was back at the Borders in Bowie, sipping a large latte and reading a Dora the Explorer pop-up book to her daughter, a bag of treats at the ready.
"I like the layout, because she can run around, and I can pretty much see her," Frueh said. "She could stay all day."
