Book shops have been a dying breed ever since Amazon and printed educational books were replaced with free online resources. Amazon has taken a massive market share in bookselling and online educational resources have replaced a lucrative source of income from bookshops resulting in an ever-growing number of bookshop closures. The bookshops that survive, most of them run on very tight margins and nearly for all of them, the days of easy money are long gone.
The University Students’ Council (KSU) has recently held a demonstration mourning students’ interests at the demolition site of the building that housed the old Mireva bookshop next to the University of Malta. The site will be built into a hotel. Mireva was a very nice bookshop, and many students used to buy their textbooks from it. I remember it as having a very nice history and philosophy collection. KSU has argued that the University is being swamped with expensive food outlets and there isn’t one single bookshop around.
It is incredible to me that the students of today would be preoccupied with such affairs because back in my day students used to give little thought to these matters. To me, it’s definitely a very good sign that the young generations are even more mature and forward-looking than we were. Bookshops are not only important for providing a cultural and intellectual product, but they also serve as community centers and spaces for cultural events. They are also an important part of the infrastructure of our culture. Local publishers still make most of their sales from bookshops and not online.
KSU is well resourced and it would be in its interest to increase the real estate under its portfolio and administration. If it’s so serious about culture and bookshops, why not explore financing options to buy a property for a new bookshop near the University’s grounds?
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