The number of bookstores in Japan is rapidly decreasing, especially in rural areas. Concerned about this situation, some bookstores have started a new initiative. A “town bookstore” in the suburbs of Tokyo has started a service to lend books from public libraries. Strengthening cooperation beyond the boundaries between libraries and bookstores has started with town bookstores. Kumido has started a service to pick up and deliver books from all eight Machida City Libraries in its stores. Kumido was founded in 1945. This bookstore is a community-based bookstore with six stores mainly in Machida City. If you specify the store as the pickup location, you can borrow books at the cash register counter in the store from about three days later. Customers can make reservations in advance online, and simply return them by putting them in a special post box. Taking advantage of the strengths of a bookstore that you can see and touch the books, they have realized a rare “delivery of public library books at bookstores” in the country.
As the paper publishing market shrinks, the owner felt a sense of crisis about maintaining the reading culture in the region. And it seems he had a strong desire to “protect the reading culture of the region.” This new attempt seems to be going smoothly. The number of borrowers in June this year was about 200 people, and in August it was about 300 people, and has been steadily increasing. The introduction of this service has not only improved convenience for the residents, but also brought benefits to the bookstore management. Since June, Kumido has seen a 10 to 20 percent increase in sales of study guides and children’s books compared to the same month last year. More and more parents and children are “then buy it” for elementary school drills that are not available at libraries. It seems that they are “then buy it” for classic reading material that children want to read over and over again.
Nowadays, the number of people buying books online is increasing dramatically. There are many people who rarely go to bookstores and buy books on Amazon. Amazon’s best sellers are seen by people all over the world, so there is also the idea that it is the collective knowledge of the world. However, if you only have the same information and knowledge as everyone else, you may end up making the same decisions and taking the same actions as everyone else. When solving your own problems, you will input the content related to solving the problem. In order to take action, you need different judgment materials than others. As long as you have ambition and motivation to solve problems, you will be more likely to find the book you want to read if you go to a bookstore. From the perspective of this purpose, problem solving, and the accumulation and motivation of knowledge and experience, purchasing books by mail order seems to be less cost-effective than going to bookstores.
