Small bookshops continue to defy large corporations and digital reading trends due to strong backing from local communities, according to an independent bookseller
Mischa Parkee, a manager at the Rose Read Bookshop in Sydney’s Summer Hill, said that unlike major online retailers and e-book platforms, independent stores had a communal purpose more than just providing books for sale.
“It’s not just about us stocking books or selling books, it’s about giving people a community space where they can come and talk about books,” she told Central News.
“It’s giving more money to the authors, it’s bringing like-minded people together, and giving a safe space for people to connect.”
Data shows Australian readers continue to source their literature across many mediums, but the accessibility and competitive pricing of e-books and larger businesses pose challenges for local bookstores nationwide.
Mischa Parkee, manager and director, standing with pride at the Rose Read Bookshop.
Photo: Aiden Maloney
Physical books continue to remain as the most popular source of literature in Australia, with e-book sales making up around 15-20 per cent of the market.
However, 43 per cent of the $1.617 billion generated by print purchases was from local and independent bookstores, with market giants such as Amazon taking up most of the market. The same report found this was despite 3.5 to 5 per cent of book shops in Australia closing their doors annually.
Parkee, alongside her friend Stephanie Beck, opened their store earlier this year, which proved an immediate community hit, something she ascribed partly to customers wanting to own a tangible product that could be held in the hand and retained.
“It’s a physical copy you can actually hang onto,” she said. “You can pass it on to someone else [and] share it.”
Amazon Kindle, the largest e-book store on the internet, revealed Australians in total read an average of over 1.6 billion pages per month on Kindle e-books, totalling to approximately 19 billion pages across 2025.
E-books are popular among younger Australians compared to other age groups, as one third of Australian readers aged 15-24 read e-books at least once a week in the last year.
Parkee welcomed the introduction of e-books into the book market, citing their accessibility as an advantage.
“Some people have to use them for accessibility, you can enlarge the font or even physically holding a book sometimes can be quite heavy,” she said.
“There’s definitely a value in people using them.”
Australians are using devices such as tablets and e-readers to access the digital book market in place of physical copies. Photo: Aiden Maloney
Parkee said supporting local bookstores such as hers meant the independent market could compete with large corporations and digital books.
“If you’re able to source your book from a more independent seller, they’re a really good place to get them from as opposed to supporting a big corporation,” she added.
Main image: The Rose Read Bookshop on a Summer Hill Corner. Photo: Aiden Maloney.
