Why your local independent bookstore matters

THE goal for many readers is to find a great book that can be enjoyed and shared in stimulating conversation with peers

Especially if that conversation is on how they uncovered this unique read.

Often, this book will never be found amongst the chain stores yet discovered in the out of the way small independent bookstores in your local area, like the aptly named bookshop on Skipton Street, The Independent Bookstore.

Here are the top five reasons why people love Ballarat’s The Independent Bookstore.

1. It stocks first release books by new authors and has curated local book choices

The Independent Booksellers stock books based on what they know about local readers and their own love of good quality books, rather than relying on sales trends. They support the authors and the community first and not the commercial values of the bookselling industry. They are for you, the readers

2. A commitment to the local

They focus on creating personal interactions and knowing the story itself not just in a book but in the author bringing the book to life. There is a special connection for a local bookshop to its inventory, and it is that it holds greater value than the purchase price alone.

3. An introduction to local authors and stories

The essence of a story can be found in its locality and bookstores are part of the local community and culture, and help the local area be entertained and informed and supported as part of the process of having great visitor experiences and greater local awareness. The stories shared by the local people are more authentic and real than anywhere else they may be shared, because they are personal, and The Independent Bookstore knows this best.

4. ‘Slow leisure’

Both the act of browsing in the bookshop and reading are forms of slow leisure – activities that are rich because we invest time in them. One of the best things independent bookshops do share the story of the work and the author and personalise the connection for a reader to know the author and the purpose for the book. It becomes something more for them and is even a keepsake they cherish and not just a book they read and enjoy.

5. Outlets for our emotions

Books provide an opportunity for vicarious experience of different kinds of emotional moments and a bookstore is the place where the quiet seeking for comforts and truths are in a safe place and readers can feel okay about choices and reasons and not be confronted by the world outside.

There is only one reason to support a small local bookshop and that because they support your community in more ways than many may know, and they are part of the future of new authors and books to be discovered by the generations to come. They need your support in return to survive.

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