Indies in Scotland: Exploring the Unique Role of Independent Bookshops in Scotland’s Towns and Villages

Abstract

This project explores the business practices and cultural place of independent bookshops in Scotland. The research examines the connections that independent bookshops have with their various stakeholders, and investigates the support and policy change bookshops require in order to survive and prosper. The research finds a wealth of expertise and business acumen across Scottish independent booksellers, uniquely driven by a commitment to literacy, community and a love of books. A strong contribution to communities, welfare and social capital is identified. Policy recommendations are made, which recognise the cultural and community contributions made by bookshops, as well as proposing that bookshops be at the centre of policy planning around the regeneration of high streets.

An Ecosystem Model of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Publisher ‘Tiers’: Publisher Size, Sustainability and Cultural Policy

“…Several of the articles in the co-edited special issue BOOK COMMERCE BOOK CARNIVAL of the journal Memoires du Livre Studies in Book Culture [9] focused on cultural policy interventions in terms of literary translation, location-based literary marketing and cultural interchange relating to book fairs and festivals (see in particular [12,16,26]). Audrey Laing [20] has recently offered policy recommendations to support the independent bookselling sector in Scotland. Within the specific context of one (perhaps rather exceptional) nation, Helge Rönning and Tore Slaatta's The Tools of Literary Politics: The Norwegian Model [35] assesses cultural, economic and legislative policy in relation to literature, while Sapiro [38] surveys the production of cultural in late twentieth century France between the strictures of the state and the market.…”