The host of the "Grande Librairie" defends small bookstores.
François Busnel is launching a petition so that these businesses deemed “
non-essential
” can remain open during confinement.
The literary critic asks for it in the name of "the
fight that everyone tries to lead against ignorance, against obscurantism, against fanaticism
".
Interviewed by France Info, François Busnel is the spokesperson for the "
syndicate of booksellers of France
", the "
national syndicate of publishers
", "
all writers
" and "
all the people who go to bookstores
".
To read also: "
Leave our bookstores open
": the call of the book world after the announcement of the reconfinement
“
Bookstores are perhaps the only place where you can do away with any conspiracy theory with libraries,
” he said.
Because you have books that tell stories, that explain that things are not black or white, and that against a single book, whatever it is, there are books
”.
The literary critic speaks of the bookstore as "
the place where you can arm yourself with effective weapons against the real
".
According to him, "
bookstores need to be opened (...) because there are millions of people in this country, and we saw it just after the first confinement, who want to read, who need to read
”.
Read also: Before the reconfinement, bookstores stormed by angry readers
According to the literary critic, a closure would condemn "a
whole section of the cultural economy, undoubtedly to falter, for some to disappear
".
He fears that cities or entire regions will be deprived of bookstores.
"
And you are giving a huge gift to a company that begins with Ama and ends with Zon, whose tax practices we know
", criticizes François Busnel.
At the microphone of France Inter yesterday, Anne Martel, president of the French bookstore union, also spoke of this closure of bookstores as "
a royal open door for Amazon
".
Read also: Reconfinement: Fnac-Darty keeps its stores open
A "
formidable appetite
"
François Busnel believes that the influx noted in recent days in bookstores "
reflects a tremendous appetite, an immense desire
" to continue to visit these shops.
"
We have all heard the President of the Republic tell
us we are at war
?
Why deprive of the best battalion, the one that will allow knowledge to confront obscurantism?
», He concludes.
The comic book author Riad Sattouf has also launched a drawing appeal to keep bookstores open.
