How many hours, among the happiest of my life, have I spent in the dusty, damp or dismal purlieus of second-hand bookshops, where mummified silverfish, faded pressed flowers and very occasionally love letters are to be found in books long undisturbed on their shelves. With what delight do I find the word ''scarce’’ pencilled in on the flyleaf by the bookseller, though the fact that the book has remained unsold for years, possibly decades, suggests that purchasers are scarcer still.Och:
Alas, second-hand bookshops are closing daily, driven out of business by the combination of a general decline in reading, the internet and that most characteristic of all modern British institutions, the charity shop. Booksellers tell me that 90 per cent of their overheads arise from their shops, and 90 per cent of their sales from the internet. Except for the true antiquarian dealers, whose customers are aficionados of the first state and the misprint on page 287, second-hand bookshops make less and less economic sense.Läs hela hans artikel här.
När man sedan läser om den här undersökningen så undrar man ju om det alls behövs någon som säljer böcker i framtiden. Man måste ju kunna läsa för att ha någon glädje av dem. Och DN:s rubrik kan inte dölja hur det står till med just de kunskaperna. Svenskan tar tjuren vid hornen och säger redan i rubriken vad det handlar om: fjärdeklassare läser sämre!