“On January 6, after 25 years, Odradek the Bookstore will go out of business. This year was the collapse, with daily takings below 300 euros”. (30% on average is the earnings on the books) – he continues – With 2000 euros of rent, nothing remains. In August we collected 4,000 euros against the 6,500 of the previous year, in September we collected 6,500 euros against the 10,700 of 2021. Every month we record a drop in turnover of 2,000 euros”.
“And we have also been helped. National institutions with contributions to Libraries for the purchase of independent bookshops, the Lazio Region with bonuses for cultural projects for dozens of bookshops, plus the support of private citizens who have allowed us to pay receipts bank transfer of 10,000 euros in August, these contributions were not sufficient to reverse the trend. Fewer and fewer readers enter the bookstore. Elderly and avid readers are dying and there is no turnover. The new generations – underline the owners on the social network of the bookshop in via dei Banchi Vecchi- no longer live in the “civilization of paper”. The irreversible process of digitization requires everyone to rethink the forms of access to knowledge and knowledge that were once transmitted exclusively on paper. The book will not disappear , but it is no longer the only literacy tool.The development of networks makes it more and more complicated to build low-cost projects around the Book”.
“Forms of reading change rapidly and with them customs and attitudes in everyday life. Newsagents, for example, have unfortunately become an increasingly marginal democratic and economic entity in everyday life (newspapers are always bought on less). Then – it is pointed out – there is a whole economic and social situation that worries us. And therefore we must avoid getting stuck in debt. We have given up many things in these 25 years of activity. We stubbornly exploited ourselves because we believed that it was necessary to contribute to the construction of a different city, especially in the ancient districts of Rome. But now is the time to listen to the numbers which are implacable. We leave the field with our hearts in our hands. We thank all those who loved us. But we must pay attention to the numbers. From December 27th to January 6th total sale (the discounts we will apply will comply with the regulatory dictates of the important Law 13 fe February 2020, no. 15, containing “Provisions for the promotion and support of reading”). Thanks to all those who have allowed Odradek to live over the years. Happy 2023!!! Katia and David”.
Among the hundreds of messages posted under the announcement by the owners of the Odradek bookstore is also the comment by the director of Tg La7 Enrico Mentana, who proposes: “Sorry, maybe it’s late. But if those customers who can afford it each anticipated a thousand-two thousand euros for book purchases in the next year (including myself of course) and in the meantime we were looking for an alternative solution to the closure?”.