For many people, Barnes and Noble isn’t just a bookstore—it’s a community. Various TikToks have previously gone viral by book lovers who discuss how they spend the day in the bookstore as if it’s a public library, with one in particular detailing how they “aimlessly float through the store collecting books” and “finding a ‘lil corner to slip away to.”
Stitching this video is user @sodapop98, who, as a former Barnes and Noble employee, gave their opinion on book lovers who shop like this.
“To answer your question, no, we actually don’t mind that you hang around for as long as you want,” he says in the clip. “The thing that we do mind is, the books that you select and take with you, wherever you go.”
@sodapop98 #stitch with @itnotsoso #fyp #barnesandnoble ♬ original sound – Sodapop
In the video, which has over 168,000 views, the TikToker begs shoppers to not leave piles of books behind once they’re done.
“We’re more than happy to put it away,” he adds. “We want to maintain the store as accurate as possible, so we can find products for customers. So to facilitate that, just bring them back to the customer service desk so we can properly put them away.”
In the comments, other former bookstore employees came to share their own experiences and advice. One made a PSA of their own—begging customers not to crease or dog-ear paperbacks they aren’t buying. Another added, “I work in cafe at Barnes. and it’s so nice seeing customers just reading in the cafe and stuff, honestly we don’t mind at all.”
When a further commenter asked if this applied to all Barnes and Nobles, the TikToker replied they were unsure—explaining that he had heard stories of other customers being kicked out. “We didn’t really care unless you were in and out of the store,” he wrote, “then we’d really have a problem.”
User @sodapop98 didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment. The Daily Dot also reached out to Barnes and Noble via email.
