Moroccan bookshops: A sector in difficulty

2006-04-11

Having functioned for years as places of intellectual exchange, Moroccan bookshops are virtually shunned presently.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 11/04/06

[File] Moroccan booksellers are struggling to attract readers to their stores

In Morocco, bookshops used to be desirable locations as intellectuals, students and avid readers would spend hours rooting through well-stocked shelves searching for a new publication or a masterpiece which had impacted the world of literature or universal thought.

Today, the sector seems to have been plunged into an endemic crisis. Despite the organisation of shows and fairs in several towns across the country, the market is still struggling to organise itself and make its presence felt. Apart from a few bestsellers or didactic works, sales are becoming more seasonal and only reach prosperous levels at the start of each school year.

However, most people still see bookshops as appropriate means of accessing information, ideas and fictional works. In the face of a reading crisis, publishers have reacted by increasing the number of titles, shortening print runs, reducing display times for books on the shelves, and increasing prices.

"We're producing more and more books, but for fewer and fewer readers," Seddik Z, an expert on the subject, said.

Another aspect making the situation harder is the absence of professional booksellers. "We have very few booksellers, by which I mean people who have appropriate training and are capable of recommending this or that book according to the present cultural situation. They must be up-to-date on everything going on in the field: publishing, publication dates, authors, discipline ...," Seddik pointed out.

The development of new information technologies has made the situation harder still. Many people prefer looking at a book on the Internet rather than buying it. "The only way out of this situation lies in developing and teaching a love of reading among young people," Seddik noted.

Souad Balafrej, who runs the Kalila wa Dimna bookshop in Rabat, deplores the ever-decreasing number of readers in Morocco and cites several causes, such as the high illiteracy rate and stagnation of the translation sector.

Recalling the uniqueness of the bookseller trade, she says the profession brings together the aspects commerce and culture. The first aspect forces booksellers to open their shops to meet their financial obligations. The cultural side calls for intellectual versatility, guiding the customer, and most of all gaining his loyalty.