PARIS: France's small bookstores have survived the rise of big chains, Amazon and digital books, but many fears a sales tax rise, part of the debt-saddled government's austerity plans, could push them out of business.
Until now the thousands of independent booksellers that dot France's town centres offered the best of both worlds a quaint setting, one-on-one tips and advice, and guaranteed prices as low as at a chain store.
Since 1981, the French state has set the price of books, largely to support independent bookstores which are seen as vital assets to local communities.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing government, fighting to get public finances under control, has hiked the sales tax on books from 5.5 percent to seven percent, under measures that took effect on April 1.
With the French presidential campaign in full swing ahead of the April 22 first round, the question has turned political with Sarkozy's Socialist rival Francois Hollande vowing to repeal the rise.
Booksellers see the tax hike, part of measures aimed at saving a total of 72 billion euros ($95 billion), as a stab in the back.
The government has "loaded the bullet designed to kill off independent booksellers," charged Vincent Monade, a former bookseller and head of the Paris region's Observatory for Books and Writing (MOTif).
Unlike the United States for instance, where bookselling has become the preserve of big business, France has one of the densest networks of small bookstores in the world.
Across its 2,500 to 3,000 professional bookstores compared to just over 1,000 in Britain literature-loving staff will often stick little notes to titles with their own short comments or reviews.
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