The Way of a Bookstore That Doesn't Sell Books

Chapter 6: Multiplying with Bookstores (3)

In this book, we refer to anyone who specializes in books as a "bookstore," even if they are not someone who stocks and sells books. For example, if a dentist's office has a bookshelf in a corner with books recommended by the director, and they want patients to read them during the often-long wait, we would like to consider that a "Bookstore x Dentist" in a broad sense.

Therefore, there are also forms of multiplication that do not involve selling books. A place where books are arranged for browsing, so that visitors can read them, is one of the places where people and books meet. If there are many places in a town where you can read books, even if it is just one bookshelf or a corner with only a few books, it can be said that there are small libraries all over the town, and the town itself has become like one big library.

For example, if the director's selection of books is excellent, some people in town might choose that dentist's office specifically because it has books. If they have been doing it for a long time, there might even be people who naturally started reading books because they went to that dentist when they were children. It can be said that this "Bookstore x Dentist" creates a good synergy. Books are useful for attracting customers to the dentist's business, and the waiting time that tends to occur in the dental profession plays a role in conveying the fun of books.

There is also this way of being a bookstore that does not sell books.

One thing to be careful about is when lending books. Books are protected by copyright, which includes the right of lending, so in principle, if you are running a lending business in Japan, you must return profits to the copyright holder.

You can pay usage fees through the "Japan Publication Lending Rights Management Center," which is a copyright management organization. In recent years, comic book rentals have been conducted at DVD rental stores, and this is the organization that was originally created because of this business model. In fact, it can be said that the only area where book lending is currently established as a business is comic books. When I asked about it, I was told that although some books other than comics are processed for permission at the author's discretion, there are no actual reports of cases where lending is taking place.

It should be noted that the business model known as a "lending library" (kashihonya) was popular as entertainment for the common people from the days when books were expensive, and there were many of them all over the country until the early 1960s. After that, as books became cheaper and public libraries became more substantial, they declined, but if a business has been operating as a lending library since before 2000 and has a collection of 10,000 books or less, the usage fee is exempted as a vested right. There are a few places still in operation, such as "Yutaka Shobo" in Ikejiri-Ohashi, Tokyo, but when asked, they say that comics are still the main focus.

Also, caution is required when lending books, even if you do not charge for it directly. Lending a book means that the person will have to come back to return it. If you are lending books for free with the aim of getting customers to visit again, it can be seen as using the copyrighted work of a book for business purposes. Thinking of it that way, a portion of the business's profits should be returned to the copyright holder.

Of course, there is no problem with simply lending books to friends in private. Activities such as creating a small private library for non-profit purposes and using it as a place for local exchange are also popular, and that is also fine. Also, if you do not lend them out, there is no problem with having books for browsing in the store and conducting other business there. Caution is only necessary when lending is linked to business.

Therefore, if you want to make a living as a bookstore that does not sell books, it is better to consider lending to be a somewhat high hurdle. If possible, it is better to combine browsing within that space with other businesses. If you do decide to lend books, it would be best to consult with the aforementioned Japan Publication Lending Rights Management Center or a professional such as a lawyer.

Note that if you do not sell books, it is convenient to use a service called "Librize" to manage them. It is like a simple library inventory management and search system that allows you to display a list of books in your collection via the internet. In a place like a private library, it can be used as a lending system, and even if you do not lend books, it allows visitors to know what kind of books are available, in addition to managing the books themselves.

In the following sections, we will look at variations of "multiplication" with several business types, including examples, points of caution, and ways of thinking for each.

*Reprinted from "A Reader for Future Bookstores" (NHK Publishing), pp. 205-207