Reading to relax during pandemic
Publishers, booksellers ask province to recognize bookstores as essential
Booksellers urge Ford to make stores essential in another lockdown,
Booksellers and publishers are urging Premier Doug Ford to declare bookstores an essential service if another COVID-19 lockdown is declared in Ontario.
And they’re saying it all comes down to well-being: of individuals and of the book industry itself.
“We believe that the availability of books should be built into the strategy to maintain the well-being of Ontario communities and families,” wrote Kristin Cochrane, the CEO of Penguin Random House Canada, in a letter to the Ontario premier.
“Bookstores perform an essential role in their communities, providing critical informational, entertainment and educational resources for Ontarians; they contribute to the maintenance of freedom of accurate information; and most particularly during this time, books play a significant role in children’s education, cognitive development and mental health.”
Statistics support what she’s saying. BookNet Canada found that sales of books focused on self-care and mental health are up 70 per cent this year, while demand for guided journals is up by 50 per cent. And sales of educational workbooks and activity books for kids have shown double-digit increases as well.
“The important thing is the role that we’ve been playing in supporting education and mental well-being is so clear,” Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books, told the Star. “For the first time in almost a decade not only are book sales up, educational materials that are supporting kids, creative activities, those things are experiencing huge increases … But also all the books that relate to anxiety, depression, mindfulness, the spike has been tenfold.
“Premier Ford has had a huge commitment to mental health and well-being,” Reisman added. “He knows that there’s an issue. And he has a huge commitment to education. This aligns with two things he cares about a lot.”
Booksellers large and small pivoted after the first lockdown in March, increasing and enhancing their ability to sell books online, and provide delivery and curbside pickup.
But online shopping isn’t a panacea. “A good 40 per cent of the population does not shop online,” Reisman says.
She also calls out delivery as one of the biggest challenges to online fulfilment. “At this time of year the demand on the delivery systems that Canada has — Canada Post, UPS (and others) — they can’t even handle normal Christmas problems,” says Reisman. “If the majority of stores will be closed, it will be impossible … there just isn’t the ability to handle everything.”
Cochrane also noted in her letter that “the low-margin nature of the books category, and relatively high postal and distribution costs, mean that online commerce is not a viable option for many Ontario booksellers.”
Jo Saul, a partner in independent store Type Books, notes that, with the holiday season here, “we are busy gearing up for our busiest seven weeks of the entire year. The month of December is what allows for the rest of the year. We have strategically filled our stores to the brim.”
Calling a lockdown now would make it harder for her to sell the books she’s got. “More than half of our business is in-store business,” she says.
The four-store Toronto chain has boosted its online shopping experience since the beginning of the pandemic, providing delivery and curbside pickup.
They also follow tight COVID protocols, providing hand sanitizer and masks, and only allowing a small numbers of customers in the store at one time.
Indigo stores have done the same thing. “We have been following the full protocol from the beginning,” says Reisman, “and we have had literally no COVID experience because of the intense protocol. We are safe.”
The Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland made a similar call to its government a little over a week ago.
Decrying the ability of garden centres and grocery stores to sell books, Meryl Halls, the association’s managing director, quoted in the Guardian, said in a letter to government ministers that bookstores are “lanterns of civilization and, for many, beacons of hope.”
She said booksellers’ livelihoods “and those of their staff are already in jeopardy from the first lockdown, and their chances of survival into 2021 would be much improved by having a solid Christmas sales period.”
It’s a sentiment Cochrane emphasized in her letter to Ford about an already hard-hit industry. She cited pressure on bricks-and-mortar booksellers, noting that “increasing labour costs, rising commercial rents, and competition from online retailers who operate at a scale and with a cost structure that independent and national retailers — particularly those who are diligent to respect a “buy in Ontario” or “buy in Canada” philosophy — cannot approach.”
Add to that the restriction on in-person events that often provide a healthy revenue boost to their bottom line and it can become a balancing act on a razor’s edge.
Saul sums up the situation if there’s another lockdown for most retailers: “It’s uncharted territory,” she says. “Could those sales be made up by online and phone and curbside? I simply don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
What it comes down to mostly, though, is the loss of community. “The hunger for books right now is more than I’ve ever witnessed in my 15 years of business,” she says. “People are … (looking for ways) of understanding this crazy world.”
Or, as Reisman puts it, “We are saying we provide an important service to people during this time. And as I say, if beer stores are important, we definitely qualify.”
“The important thing is the role that we’ve been playing in supporting education and mental well-being is so clear.” HEATHER REISMAN CEO OF INDIGO BOOKS