Melbourne is one of five UNESCO Cities of Literature, inducted in 2008. One of the pitches to obtain this status was the vibrancy of Melbourne’s bookselling landscape – since that time at least 10 bookshops have closed within the City of Melbourne, with many more closed in the suburbs and regional areas. Six years hence, the State Government and City of Melbourne are about to announce a jointly funded office for the City of Literature to manage and promote Melbourne’s UNESCO status. No doubt, many booksellers will be hoping that their future will be a priority for the new office.

I recently attended a meeting of booksellers with the City of Melbourne Council. Organised by Councillor Jackie Watts, who holds the Knowledge City portfolio, the purpose of the meeting was to inform City of Melbourne booksellers of what the city could do for them. Dr Watts was emphatic about the positive role that bookshops played in the cultural and intellectual life of this city and assured the assembled booksellers that she was on their side. Council staff outlined the kinds of support on offer for small business, ranging from grants, to promotion and mentoring programs.

Things were all well and good until Dr Watts was asked whether she and other councillors were, or would consider, taking a more proactive role to ensure that Melbourne kept its bookshops. For the moment, she said, all Council could offer was its generic support programs for business. ‘Was the Council aware of the number of bookshops that had closed in the City of Melbourne in recent years?’ called out one bookseller. Another asserted that the Council was disingenuous in its support, only paying lip service to the booksellers and actually ‘didn’t give a toss’. Some booksellers then talked wistfully about the support that all levels of government give bookshops in France, with the French parliament set to pass a law that restricts booksellers offering a discounts and other benefits, such as free delivery. Under current law, the maximum amount books can be discounted is five per cent, and the proposed law would mean that online retailers could offer either discounts or free delivery – not both. In addition, France announced an $18 million package to help book retailers and another $14.5 million to assist bookshops with cash flow and in the transfer of bookselling businesses. Dr Watts responded that initiatives such as these would require adoption of policies not just by local government.

Last month my dear friend, writer Boyd Oxlade, died. A dropout from Monash University in the early 1970s, Boyd proudly led a varied life and spurned the idea of a conventional career. He spent a number of years as a cook in a rock venue and as a grave digger at the Melbourne General Cemetery – these were a source of inspiration for his great comic novel, Death in Brunswick, recently republished as a Text Classic. Boyd has left us a great legacy.

Mark Rubbo