People are still reading and buying books but small, independent bookshops are going to the wall. Lockdowns are doing what Amazon and Booktopia threatened to do.

Lindfield Bookshop in Sydney closed a couple of years ago as did Pages and Pages.

Dymocks in Lane Cove closed when the landlord retook possession. I think Dymocks in Camberwell has gone too.

Embiggen Books has shut its doors in Melbourne and the Academic Text Co-op bookshops are gone (lots of jobs lost there).

Corrie Perkins Hawksburn closed recently, which was one of the best bookshops in Melbourne.

I did a count and in the last two years, about 20 bookstores across Australia have closed, not counting secondhand bookshops.

Readings in Melbourne and the Hill of Content are hanging in there.

CBD bookstores of scale might survive but with foot traffic falls of 80 per cent, it’s grim.

The long tail of the Melbourne lockdowns will extend for months, not weeks.

The Hill of Content in Bourke Street is one of my favourite bookshops. I consider the red leather reading chair upstairs, mine. It’s still trading.

I’m hoping the small, independent bookshops can weather the storm but I’ve got my doubts.