No, minister: Bookshops are as Australian as a pie at the footy

Walking into a bookshop and browsing new and used collections is as much a part of Sydney as sipping on a café latte. It’s as Australian as an afternoon at the beach, or a pie at the footy.

That’s why both book buyers and omnipresent shops were dismayed this week when the federal Minister for Small Business, Nick Sherry, said most book stores had a shelf life.

"I think in five years, other than a few specialist booksellers in capital cities we will not see a bookstore, they will cease to exist," Senator Sherry told an audience in Canberra.

Maybe the minister reads more newspapers than books. It’s been widely reported that American super-retailer, REDgroup Retail, collapsed with a $118 million debt. With their collapse brought the closure of most Angus & Robertson and Borders bookstores.

But Sydneysiders can be averse to chains: this is the city, after all, that turned its back on Starbucks in favor of local, boutique coffee shops.

The minister said online selling of books, and e-books, was the way of the future. But he didn’t mention that independents make up 20 percent of the local retail market, compared to nine percent in America and only four percent in Britain.

Senator Sherry probably hasn’t walked into Gertrude and Alice on Hall Street, Bondi Beach, where locals sip lattes and mothers nurse babies in a rustic bookshop.

“Why’s he picking on bookstores?” Gertrude and Alice co-owner Dan Mashman said, “It’s like saying all retailers will close down.”

Perhaps the minsters doomsday reading ingestion hasn’t gone much past Ray Bradbury’s "Fahrenheit 451," which depicted totalitarian fireman burning books. Or perhaps he thinks George Orwell’s confronting political thought is a government handbook.

The Booksellers' Association's president, Jon Page, of Pages and Pages Booksellers at Mosman in Sydney, has said that the minister probably hasn’t cared to visit the diverse book industry and is out of touch.

So maybe the minister hasn't taken a walk down King Street, Newtown, lately. He would have browsed more bookstores than Thai restaurants. “There’s a lot of competition,” said Nicole Mansour, manager of Berkelouw Books Newtown, part of a chain of independent, sixth-generation booksellers. “But it’s just hype to say bookstores will close. It just isn’t a trend in Australia.”

Derek Dryden, the owner of Better Read than Dead in Newtown, describes the area as a “book destination.” He said, “Bookselling has only dropped two per cent over the last year –- and part of that is due to the (strong) Australian dollar.”

“In that time children’s books sales have increased,” he said. “And to be optimistic, they’ll grow up and buy books.”

But he did concede it was “challenging and a time of great change.”

Over on Glebe Point Road, Glebe, Roger Mackell’s long beard has been an inner west mainstay for as long as most can remember. His store has now expanded around Sydney and hosts some of the country’s best writers in talks and book launches.

He said the federal government were making it tough for booksellers by charging GST, which customers aren’t charged by overseas, online competitors. But he said in spite of not getting a great deal of help from the government, booksellers would survive.

Because in spite of what the government says, Australians like to go to bookshops.

Some of Sydney's (many) bookshops

Gertrude and Alice, 46 Hall St., Bondi Beach, +61 (0)2 9130 5155, open Sunday-Thursday 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., www.gertrudeandalice.com.au

Pages and Pages Booksellers, 878 Military Road, Mosman Junction, +61 (0)2 9969 9736, open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., www.pagesandpages.com.au

Berkelouw Books, 6-8 O'Connell St., Newtown, +61(0)2 9557 1777, open  Monday-Wednesday 10 a.m.– 9 p.m., Thursday–Saturday 10 a..m–10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–8 p.m. www.berkelouw.com.au/stores/newtown

Better Read than Dead, 265 King St., Newtown, +61 (0)2 9557 8700, open Sunday-Thursday 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m., www.betterread.com.au

Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, +61 (0)2 9660 2333, open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. 7 days, www.gleebooks.com.au