[Opinion] Don`t Sell Out Books

People might get curious when they are told that paper and metal printing gave rise to the French Revolution. Yet, it is true. As metal printing was invented, books, enjoyed only by the ruling class until then, began to be introduced to the mass in large volumes, spreading knowledge widely. The way people saw the world changed as a result and the revolution was followed. The saying that invention drives a social change still holds true. The case in point is the Internet. As the earlier invention called books changed the society ruled by a small group of the privileged hundreds years ago, now the Internet is changing the way those books are distributed and produced. It is like a food chain of changes that circles around.

▷Internet bookstores are gaining great popularity. Their charm is discount. In contrast, neighborhood bookstores that sell books for tagged prices are having hard times. The number of the offline bookstores, which once reached as many as about 6,000, dropped sharply to around 2,000. The contraction is a result of the changing time, but the crisis of small bookstores must not be taken for granted. They are playing a small but meaningful role in forming community culture. Culture producers are bound to have hard times as books get cheaper, and we need to protect cultural activities.

▷A fixed price system for books sales will, therefore, be introduced on February 27. Most bookstores will be required to sell books for tagged prices, with Internet stores allowed for a 10% discount. Neighborhood bookstores are now given a grace period since the system will only continue through 2008. In a protest against the incomplete system, they closed shops for one day yesterday. It seems impossible to turn the trends of pricing competition and popular Internet bookstores. Still, we need to pay attention to the desperate small bookstore owners resorting to the extreme shutdown measure. Without neighborhood bookstores, we will not be able to take some time out of busy life, smelling paper and looking through books.

▷As Internet and offline bookstores continue a tug of war, publishers took the chance and raised prices of books. The prices rose up to 15.4% last year as publishers set prices higher taking Internet discounts into account. While those unscrupulous businesses taking profits, readers are paying the price. When the fixed price system is introduced, prices must be lowered again. In the long term, the expensive books will also work against publishers since readers will buy fewer. Neighborhood bookstores, on their part, need to hammer out a viable strategy for survival. Given that the publishing industry is a strategic area in the age of culture, however, all parties concerned must get wiser to see the wood instead of sticking to their own interests.

Hong Chan-shik, Editorial Writer, chansik@donga.com