KUALA LUMPUR: Content consumption has evolved over the years, with more people relying on the Internet as the source of information. This, of course, comes at a price.
Malaysian Booksellers Association president and Malaysian Book Industry Chamber chairman Keith Thong said factors such as the rising cost of living and social media distractions, among others, had contributed to the declining reading habit, compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic that had affected many businesses.
Data collected by the Malaysian Book Publishers Association revealed 95 bookstores in Malaysia have closed down since 2018, including 32 outlets in 2020.
Some of them, including bookstore chains such as MPH, have scaled down physical sales by reducing the number of its outlets and adopting online sales strategies.
The latest "casualty", the Times Bookstore chain that started in Singapore, was said to be closing all its outlets in Malaysia. The branches at Hartamas Shopping Centre and Bangsar Shopping Complex have recently ceased operations.
There are 70 newly-opened bookshops, with some 2,000 outlets still operating in the country.
However, all is not lost, and efforts are under way through collaboration between the public and private sectors to address the declining reading habit among Malaysians.
One of them, he said, was the development of Data Buku Negara initiative, led by the National Library, and industry players, including booksellers and publishers.
"With the data, we hope to learn about the interests of Malaysians based on the sales of books and make use of the information to improve the industry.
"We can find out the genres that the readers look for, based on the different age groups, for example.
"It is important for everyone to work together to promote the reading culture, rather than seeing others as competitors.
"It will actually do our business good to form a fellowship among us and share ideas in ensuring the survival of the industry," said Thong, who was one of the panel speakers at the first International Booksellers conference held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), recently.
Thong, who is University Book Store Malaysia managing director, said it was also important for industry players to embrace change and leverage technology to stay relevant.
At the conference, he learned about efforts made to encourage reading in other countries, citing Estonia that has combined education and entertainment by promoting books in cinemas.
"Instead of relying on sales of books, we should look for ways to diversify our services, like offering online courses.
"At University Book Store, we have a dedicated space in one of our stores where people can conduct training and conferences for free.
"Conferences, seminars, workshops and training are good idea-sharing platforms," he said.
He also stressed the importance of instilling the reading habit among children.
At the conference, United Arab Emirates International Publishers Association president Bodour Al Qasimi said collaborations among stakeholders in the book industry was one of the most vital components in ensuring that the reading culture flourish.
He said the close cooperation and solidarity between publishers, booksellers, authors, libraries and schools were also crucial, especially during challenging times, like the Covid-19 pandemic, Bernama reported.