‘I love the whole atmosphere and can spend hours browsing’: how did bookshops suddenly become cool?

A new survey suggests that young people are shunning AI algorithms and online retailers to experience the joy of visiting bookshops

Gen Z’s cultural tastes are heralded, maligned and mythologised in almost equal measure. But one stereotype persists above all: that young people are addicted to their phones, keen to live their lives primarily through a screen.

But is this the whole picture? A survey commissioned by the Booksellers Association ahead of Bookshop Day tomorrow has found that gen Z and millennials are more likely to buy a book based on a bookseller’s recommendation – in person, in a bookshop – than older age groups: 49% and 56% respectively, compared with 37% of gen X and 31% of baby boomers. Booksellers from around the UK told me this wasn’t surprising – that, in the last few years, they’ve noticed a sharp rise in young readers coming into their shops seeking out human guidance, eager to be in a physical store rather than filtering through AI and influencer-recommended titles online.

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