In recent years, bookstores have mostly closed, but now they are also opening.
Is difficult to explain the arousal caused by books to a person who does not pode bibliophilia.
How to describe the moment when you enter a new library or a previously unknown bookstore, for example abroad? What adjectives are used to smell old, already fragile books? How does it compare to the teasing that a bookshelf of an interesting person evokes? Or the awareness that you will soon be able to read a book you missed that you would not be afraid to stay away from?
The tendency to get involved in books is probably both hereditary and contagious. I myself have had the privilege of growing up in the middle of books, and so I still live.
I got my first tet internship and one of my first summer jobs at the library and my first permanent job at a bookstore, right after high school. In libraries and bookstores, I have become acquainted not only with fascinating opuses but also with many memorable characters.
I remember a man who, on an ordinary day in 1987, studied the shelves of English-language paperback books at the Turku Academic Bookstore for a long time, picked up a book and paid for it at the checkout. He then tore his shopping in rage to small pieces, politely asked for the trash, and left.
Guess I remember what that book was again!
Books take up space, collect dust and are intolerable to move, yes, but they are also the easiest way to cross borders – be it geography, time or thinking.
For myself, a full bookshelf means both safety and adventure.
As my school-age children began to do what I did to my parents in the past — to borrow my books and secretly transfer them to their own shelves — we began a new tradition.
On the first Saturday of every month, we meet at a bookstore where they get to pick one book, I pay for. Then we go for coffee. (Yes, I’ll pay for that too.)
This may be considered a deliberate spread of the disease, but I hope the printed book, libraries and bookstores will continue to live after me.
Finns read a lot and are still the most active library users in the world according to the statistics of the Library Society. So one might think that we would also buy more books than elsewhere.
However, due to the vibrant library network, enthusiastic borrowing, and free school books, this is not the case; although up-to-date statistics are difficult to obtain from outside Finland.
Bookstore Association by General literature (ie non-textbooks) was acquired in Finland last year for EUR 316 million. Only 37 per cent of purchases were made in actual bookstores, 28 per cent in online shops and 25 per cent in department stores and supermarkets. The popularity of audio books is growing by leaps and bounds, but printed books are now being sold for more than many years.
55 years ago, there were almost 800 bookstores in Finland. There are now 146 general bookstores and 54 specialty bookstores (the figures do not include antique shops). Out of a total of 200 bookstores, only 41 are non-chain general stores.
In addition to stores, publishers are also concentrating, which largely dictates the price and marketing of a book, often even going.
When you travel to Berlin, for example, there seem to be independent bookstores in every block and every third foot. Why don’t we?
There are probably more than one reason, the age of literary culture for example. But in Finland, the liberalization of book sales and the abandonment of the publishing system’s fixed price system in 1971 were a road to destruction for bookstores. Big supermarkets are able to buy bestsellers on stage and trade them alongside groceries for half the price charged by smaller bookstores.
In Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, the price of a book is the same regardless of where you buy it, and small bookstores are able to sell both the biggest favorites and specialize in lower-circulation literature.
The game is not lost to us either, everything else.
According to several statistics, reading and sales of printed books have increased during the pandemic, not only in Finland but also elsewhere in Europe, as well as in the United States. What better way to fight the corona, retreat to isolation, and keep yourself sane than reading?
In recent years, bookstores have mostly closed, but now they are also opening. In addition to its Fredrikinkatu store, the charming Helsinki-based Nide store has popped up somewhere. In September, a new Rosebud bookstore Sivillinen was opened in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki, with the largest selection in Finland, about 40,000 items.
On Wednesday the Finlandia Prizes for Literature were awarded, all three at once.
As is well known, literature is not a genre of competition, but bookstores undoubtedly benefit from awards and the visibility they receive. It is no coincidence that the most significant events in the book industry, including trade fairs, take place at the beginning of the biggest season of book sales. Between Father’s Day and Christmas, up to a third of all year-round book purchases are still made.
Incidentally, it is worth getting Christmas gift books on time this year, as paper shortages, logistics challenges and labor problems in printers due to the pandemic have already delayed deliveries.
If you can find the gift book you want, the package can be decorated with a warning: bibliophilia will catch on. On the other hand: reading hardly endangers your health.
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