Many Italian bookshops to remain closed despite easing of lockdown

Large number of bookshop owners say they have no intention of reopening while pandemic continues

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

When the Italian government declared that books were “essential goods”, paving the way for bookshops to be among the first businesses to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown on Tuesday, there was no rush to pull up the shutters, as might have been expected from an industry that has been battling for survival for years.

“I will be very happy to reopen as soon as we can do so safely,” said Nicoletta Maldini, a partner in Libreria Trame, a bookshop in the heart of Bologna. “At some point we will need to restart, but until then we need to move with caution and respect.”

Continue reading...