Swiss Review 6/2018

Swiss Review / November 2018 / No.6 18 Culture SUSANNE WENGER Amellow light falls on the book tables from outside. The rooms have high ceilings and the furniture appears modern in a friendly way: the Bu- chzeichen bookshop in Langenthal, which is located in the canton of Bern, presents the book as a cultural asset and celebrates its aesthetics. For three women, the opening of the store this spring marks the fulfillment of a dream. They all have professional backgrounds related to books but are lateral entrants when it comes to en- trepreneurship. For this, Beatrix Studer left her better-paid job as an upper secondary school teacher. “Of course the step required courage,” close in the German-speaking part of Switzerland alone. Today there are 200 stores left in the area. For SBVV’s Managing Director Dani Landolf, the fact that a counter-movement is on the rise is “a good sign”. The book in- dustry was one of the first sectors to experience the explosive potential of digitalisation. “But we are still here,” says Landolf, “and we are doing a bit better than before”. Books in the organic food store The statement may contain a dash of calculated optimism, but there are fig- ures to support it. The proportion of books sold online in Switzerland has The printed book lives on Digitalisation shook the Swiss book market and led to a decline in sales. But the book world is enduring the storms thanks to the passion and creativity of booksellers. says the co-owner, but bookstores are on the rise again. “People like to spend time browsing among rows of books in a nice place,” Susanna Paoletti adds. As a businesswoman, she keeps an eye on the course of business. The women from Langenthal are not alone. The last two years have seen the first openings of new bookstores, as registered by the Swiss Booksellers’ and Book Publishers’ Association (SBVV). Prior to that, therewasmostly downsizing and crisis. In 2007, fixed book price agreements were abol- ished. Large online retailers such as Amazon came onto the scene. The sales of Swiss booksellers plummeted. Approximately 100 bookshops had to The Buchzeichen bookshop in Langen- thal represents a new trend: after years of just downsizing, new and reimagined meet- ing places packed with books are being opened in Switzerland. Photo: Matthias Schneider