Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio Keynotes PubWest 2011

Barnes & Noble Chairman Len Riggio gave the keynote address Friday morning at PubWest 2011. I had the pleasure of introducing him and then found I spent much of the day thinking about what he said. So I just wanted to share some of what he said (and I apologize in advance to Mr. Riggio for any errors or misrepresentations here which are strictly my own):

On books, pricing and reading

• “The affordability of books turned me into a voracious reader.”
• “Does anyone still believe that book sales are inelastic?”

On possibilities and publishing

• “The problem as I see it now is that too many see this as a zero sum game, a Darwinian embrace for market share.”
• “It’s not just [about] the store or device— it’s about the possibilities of content.”
• “I think the digital marketplace is exponentially bigger than others think.”
• “Market size is readily expandable with imagination and vision.”
• “We are now at the tip of the iceberg of possibility.”

On culture and books

• “These publishers taught me that books were the building blocks of a civilized society and it was our job was to make them widely available.”
• “Is it possible to be literate without reading books?”

On entrepreneurs and publishing

• “[This transformation] can’t be done by sitting in an armchair. You have to roll up sleeves and do it.”
• “[You can see this] bubbling of entrepreneurialism. This is going to bring publishing back.” He later added: “You can see small publishers coming back. This is a return to what publishing used to be.”

​On the value of bookstores and publishers

• “How do you navigate a catalog of 20 million books?” And then later: “[This is one of the reasons] you will need publishers and booksellers.”
• “The potential is limitless. The public cannot navigate [this much content] without you. Unedited unpublished content doesn’t work, and the proposition gets stronger as content explodes.”
• “Can publishers exist without bookstores? What if you cut off the spigot that nourishes the whole marketplace?”