TBR (To Be Read): Booksellers have proven enterprising, policymakers must support them
Indie booksellers have become more enterprising in a testing time for the books industry. Can a bold approach in policy give them a boost? ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
SINGAPORE – Finally, after a tempestuous few years for bookstores, a spot of good weather for the industry. Bookshop.sg, a new online bookshop launched by eight indie booksellers on May 14, is the first of its kind and a cause for mild optimism.
Today, Singapore's book industry is besieged from every angle – rising rent, declining literacy, the tyranny of screens, disruption from artificial intelligence, undercutting by global conglomerates and plain old 'nobody reads anymore'. It is also the most enterprising age for the industry.
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