Robert Colvile notes reports that the number of bookshops in Britain has halved in seven years and says something radical is required if main street outlets are to resist the digital revolution.

With reference to the “unmatchable advantage of serendipity” and the age-old joy of being able to lose yourself in a good bookshop, he says, “The most obvious solution is to head upmarket, whether by catering to the true bibliomane rather than the passing punter, or by making your shop more of a ‘destination’ via readings and gourmet coffee.”

Theodore Dalrymple, writing in the Telegraph on “Why second-hand bookshops are just my type”, says, “The joy of finding something that one did not know existed, and that is deeply interesting or connected in a totally unexpected way with one’s intellectual interests of the moment, is one of the great serendipitous rewards of browsing, and one unknown to those who take a purely instrumental view of bookshops, leaving them the moment they discover that they do not have the very book that they want.”

Two years ago, when Nashville lost its only in-town bookstores, the novelist Ann Patchett decided to step into the breach. Parnassus Books, which Patchett and two veteran booksellers envisioned, designed, financed, and manage, is now open for business and enjoying the ride.

She says, “People still want books; I’ve got the numbers to prove it … The business model may be antiquated, but it’s the one I like, and so far it’s the one that’s working …

“If what a bookstore offers matters to you, then shop at a bookstore. If you feel that the experience of reading a book is valuable, then read a book. This is how we change the world: We grab hold of it. We change ourselves.”