2020 opened with a long war report, a war unfortunately lost since dozens and dozens of Italian bookstores forced to announce their closure. Among these, historic bookshops such as the Paravia in Turin but also bookshops in cities such as Milan and Rome, which have always been a reference in the sector market in Italy. The overall figure is that of two thousand three hundred shops closed in five years.
The crisis, of course, is not today. In 1985 in a catalog published on the occasion of the hundred years of the Laterza, entitled Laterza a century of books, the contraction of the market and the drop in sales were already being denounced. After all the number of readers in Italy does not grow significantly for many years and ranks among the last places in Europe.
But without useless pretense one decisive cause of the decline was the advent of Amazon, which has reduced the share of the market consisting of purchases of books in bookshops by about ten percentage points in the last decade. Amazon and the major online platforms offer a breadth of catalog and speed of delivery that no physical bookstore can ever guarantee. For this reason, survival exercises have largely transformed: they have become literary cafes, places for presentations and training events, they have specialized in certain sectors (one above all that of childhood, but also comics shops or the used) or in places characterized by the close relationship with the territory (neighborhood bookshops).
On this system, as fragile as a house of cards, ready to give in at the slightest gust of wind, the coronavirus tsunami hit. A tragedy that hit our country with an unexpected burden of illness and death. An event that quickly turned our lives upside down. Much of the Italian economy has been overwhelmed. The question at this point is who will be able to resist and what will remain after all this. Bookstores, especially independent ones, are at great risk
The tragic irony of fate would have it that this pandemic came when finally, after years of struggle by booksellers, Parliament approved a law intended to give new breath to the sector (Law n. 15 of 13 February 2020 containing "Provisions for the promotion and support of reading"). It is a very important provision because it contains decisive measures to promote reading (the real goal is to increase the number of readers) and finally establishes a single and equal rule on discounts to be applied to books for bookstores and e-commerce. An invaluable tool for booksellers who were absolutely no longer able to compete with the discounts offered on the net. The law was published on March 10 in the Official Gazette and will enter into force on the 25th when Italian bookstores are still closed.
Already with the Government decree of 4 March there had been a first moment of great difficulty with the blocking of all promotional initiatives: presentations, readings, training meetings. All now vital activities, the only ones able to compete, thanks to the passion and the profuse commitment, with the great Internet market.
But we booksellers didn't get discouraged. They gave us hope our customers who have started coming to stock up on books. Among the first are the most attentive parents, looking for volumes to let their children spend their time at home. For our part, we have set up corners in the bookstore and in the shop window with the proposal of texts that could help reflect on the current moment. In a bookshop like the Laterza there is a sector well stocked with classics: Blindness of Saramago, Plague by Camus, I promise sposi they are titles that immediately sold out. At this point, an idea was born that quickly spread among booksellers throughout Italy: if people want to buy books but at the same time have to leave their homes as little as possible, we'll deliver the volumes.
The text to read brought home by the bookseller: a warm and loving alternative to Amazon's icy service. The idea met with immediate success and exceeded expectations. The fervor of initiatives to keep our activities alive, despite the legal limits, was short-lived. The decree of 11 March established the closure throughout the national territory of a substantial share of commercial establishments, including bookshops.
Of course, grocery stores and pharmacies have remained open. But newsagents, tobacconists, perfumeries, laundries and telephone items were also authorized to continue their business. Books were not considered basic necessities. But hadn't it always been said that they are medicines for the soul, important elements of reflection and balance for people? Not only booksellers but also writers and many readers have asked themselves this question
It was an enormous sacrifice that we accepted with a bitter taste because in the meantime, in the face of our closure, there are those who have continued to sell and deliver the same goods with great profit. As Filippo Guglielmone, commercial manager of Mondadori, declares to Simonetta Fiori of "Repubblica", online sales increased by 50%, while Luca Domeniconi of IBS talks about a 100% increase in orders. It is yesterday's news that Amazon has announced that until April 5 it will give priority to the delivery of particularly useful goods, including books.
As for the initiative of the home delivery which seemed not to be possible in light of the March 11 decree, Ali (Italian Booksellers Association) supported it by sending a request to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Today, March 18, in a letter to the members, the president Paolo Ambrosini communicates that "It is thanks to the work of the association that in Belluno the Municipality has allowed home deliveries by the bookshops by order of the mayor and if yesterday evening there is finally received the communication that bookstores can carry out home delivery activities or in drop mode at open shops". In obviously recommending all precautions, the President invites you to evaluate the health context in which you operate "Today the main objective for us too is that the health crisis passes as soon as possible and a lot depends on our behavior".
Therefore home delivery is authorised and we welcome this authorization as the result of our mobilization and a comforting attention from the Government.
The modalities of the initiative will obviously be decided according to the contexts and here too creativity and, at the same time, attention to the protection of public health by booksellers will be decisive. The important thing is that these heavy sacrifices for our fragile system get us back to normal. And at this point the invitation is to the readers. We continue to keep in touch through social media, email and all the means available. And when we reopen, many of you come back to the bookstore because we need all your support.
°°° The author is the owner of the Laterza bookshop in Bari
If I may, it is not that the government "authorized yesterday" as the article states. The law has been clarified where previously there was uncertainty about its interpretation. In the decree of 11 March, reference is never made to the suspension of business activity but to closure, ie the suspension of opening "to the public". We must keep in mind the rationale of the decree law and that is that gatherings must be avoided (and here it would be easy to make a joke about gatherings in bookstores, haha) but sales through other channels are always allowed within the limit and in compliance with the safety standards.
Now, ALI was right to ask for clarity, the scaremongering that has arisen, however, among booksellers has not helped anyone. I know of booksellers who have started throwing accusations at colleagues from other bookstores who had started delivering home deliveries since March 12 and this is not nice.
Greetings
How do you order a book in Turin?
At the moment I can tell you that Rocco Pinto's Ponte sulla Dora has chosen the drop point method and leans on a nearby newsstand (https://bit.ly/33zuHCq)