The first set of stories this week really does feel like it illustrates an increasing momentum for what I have been calling the artisanal and the analogue. I have two stories about print books, including secondhand books, but very much not on the standard “print sales are rising/falling/insert other verb.”
ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
First up is news from Bookshop.org. This, of course, is the company that allows readers to buy print books from a central online site and have profit go to a local bookshop of their choice. The company has just announced that it will be launching a buy-back scheme, called Bookloop, for used books. It will buy books back from readers (based on an online valuation) and then use the website Zeercle to sell them on the secondhand market.
Reusing books helps, of course, to tackle our industry’s environmental issues. But what’s very interesting about this as opposed to a lot of secondhand sales is that royalties will go back to authors. Not, admittedly, direct to the author whose book gets sold, but to an authors’ assistance fund run by the Society of Authors.
Second is a story that reminds me of one of the great indie projects I highlighted in the days before ALLi was a twinkle in Orna’s eye. The Toronto Poetry Vendors project repurposed vending machines so that they dispensed poems rather than maps or candy. Toronto, a long-time hub for indie arts, still has book vending machines.
This week, the idea of selling books through vending machines took a decidedly more mainstream, but also interesting, turn. Penguin Random House will be installing book vending machines in two schools in Scotland. The machines will stock 1,000 titles from PRH’s “Lit in Colour” collection, highlighting literature by authors of color. The machines will be free for students on campus to use, operated by tokens managed by teachers. However, some consider it a gimmick and a missed opportunity.
I love the emergence of book vending machines in all contexts. I would love to see more of them devoted to indie works or genre-specific indie projects the way the Toronto Poetry Vendors project did.
Additionally, the Toronto Poetry Vendors project is a creative approach to making poetry more accessible and engaging. Vending machines dispensing poems is a unique way to celebrate indie arts in a city known for its vibrant cultural scene.