Every year since 2010, the bookstore market has been shrinking at a rate of 1%.

“Since 2010, almost 1,000 bookstores have closed in Poland,” says Tomasz Starzyk, spokesman for Dun & Bradstreet Poland.

“Small bookstores are in the worst situation. They are unable to compete in terms of prices with both retail chains and online stores, which have practically taken over the book sales market in Poland,” he added.

Reading on the rise

Although disappearing bookstores might represent something of a crisis in the sector, Poles are reading more, particularly young people.

A study by the National Library in 2023 showed that 43% of Poles had read at least one book in the last year. This is an increase of 9% compared to 2022 and the best result in a decade.

The study by the National Library also shows that the demand for public libraries grew in 2023, as they were used by 14% of those surveyed, two percentage points more than a year earlier.

The results showed that 29% of Poles borrowed books from friends, 28% bought them for themselves, while 29% received them as gifts.

The figures reflect a change in the way people obtain and read books.

“We are aware that new technologies are changing our habits, that they make it easier for some to access information and various goods, but a book is not an ordinary commodity and never will be, and we must make every effort to ensure that it is not treated as such,” Grzegorz Jankowicz, director of Poland’s Book Institute, said at his organization’s conference.

Alternative approaches

Some publishers and authors have chosen alternative routes in an attempt to slow the trend of closing bookstores. For example, a new novel by Dorota Masłowska, one of Poland’s best-known writers, was released on August 14, but for two weeks it can only be purchased in bookstores friendly with the publishing house and in the publisher’s e-shop. Only later will it go into wide distribution.

“Retail chains and online discounters will still make money. After all, they eat up half of the price. They can wait, especially since that’s where you can usually buy books a week or two before the official premiere. This leads to flooding the market with goods, often at dumping prices, and grinding up what doesn't sell,” said Przemek Dębowski, co-owner of the Karakter publishing house.

Statutory market regulation is also set to return in the field. A few months ago, the Ministry of Culture hosted the first meeting of representatives of various groups operating on the Polish literary market, which aimed to initiate work on regulations.

The Book Institute has said that one of the topics to be discussed at later meetings is the issue of a uniform book price and the regulation of distributor margins.