Signs of the coming apocalypse

IS THIS THE FUTURE? What the closing Borders on Newbury looked like yesterday:

Is there anything more unnerving than a vast, empty bookstore? Actually, abandoned, rotting libraries are way more horrifying:

The above are pictures culled from libraries in Russia and Detroit. So, what's creepier? Empty shelves or rotting books? The anodyne remains of corporate failure or the recession of civilization itself? One leads to the other, no?