Dear Readers,

Booksellers are the curators of our local community’s primary knowledge resources. This is more of a calling than a job. It is not for the faint-hearted nor those averse to risk. In fact, as with our compatriots on the front-lines of the war against Covid-19 in medical care casualty wards, few in this profession would be practising for the sake of self-enrichment. It is a higher desire than profit to educate our young, inspire our adults and exercise the minds of our aged.

Our doctors depend on books, so too every facet of our lives is influenced by readership. If it were not so, every post-apocalyptic scenario would not depict freedom of speech and information as being essential to be attacked, manipulated or controlled. In Fahrenheit 451, in Animal Farm, in the very hieroglyphs at Giza we see the power of communicating thoughts. In early evidence of human activity, whether recording life on a cave wall, stone tablet or paper, this was indeed the expression of people relaying thought to others coming after them. Posterity is written into our genetic code. Whereas authorship is contestable, the result is evident. Books are essential to who we are as a species. The discourse is often occluded by the message. However, since medium and methodology are interdependent, it is only natural that communication as our proof of humanity’s existence is similarly alleged to be interdependent.

In the absurd calculus of a pandemic, we see this more than ever before. Some underestimate the necessity of books and by Lockdown extension, the necessity of Booksellers. Of course these nay-sayers are woefully undereducated. Articles in this newsletter introduce some current remedial interventions. (Letter from SABA: Books as essential services; Letter from PASA: Lockdown and education)

Humanity faces crisis events at notable times in recorded history. Each time, books were banned, burned or bastardised because such is the power of the written word. As the SA Booksellers Association, we have worked continually throughout this period to safeguard our Booksellers members’ interests and in so doing the continuity of this noble community’s curatorship role. We have engaged with various role-players throughout the bookselling value chain in order to ensure the public continues to have a secure book ecosystem for all readers in South Africa both online and offline.

Books are essential. They will continue to be, even beyond the current Covid-19 containment restrictions. Booksellers are encouraged to continue in their vocation for the literacy of all our people. Reading is an overwhelmingly accessible and efficient transmission of concepts. It is therefore a prerequisite for health, civic and community activism, active citizenry, national development, law and order, intergenerational wealth, socialisation, safety and security. Let us not shrink from our responsibility, this is a time to show our commitment as agents of positive change.

Last year at London Book Fair, I was fortunate to have met Trevor Goul-Wheeker, Chair of Blackwell’s. In the discussion and subsequent visits to their bookstores, it was clear that the business of books is irrepressible. Booksellers will adapt and survive accordingly. The challenges Booksellers face regarding declining sales trends have been well articulated in the past however there are some tips relating to Covid-19 available in this newsletter.

I urge Booksellers and others in the value-chain to consider implementing enhanced measures for public safety. Gearing up now will pay off in the future as more viruses pop up and our customers become more circumspect and select brands that are actively involved in protecting humanity’s health. Some revolutionary measures taken by Blackwell’s well before this pandemic were simply good business decisions to future-proof the business and have paid strategic dividends in hindsight where Corona was not the primary concern. Spacing of fixtures on retail floor was maximised, one copy per title on a shelf to limit Customer handling, clear signage regarding minimal staff assistance on the sales floor but monitored and serviced by a bigger back office with more employee ownership and exposure to operations. Efficient use of entry and exits, sanitizer standards, limiting people in stores and marketing at-home delivery of books. All these put Blackwell’s in a better position to cope with health emergencies, well in advance.

In short, a good business can survive the test of time by thinking ahead in fulfilling essential needs. It is these businesses that are ultimately successful in the long run. If you don’t believe me, then best believe this is in fact the investment strategy of the Oracle of Omaha – Warren Buffet – and he has done quite well at that. Books are essential and they fulfil an essential need. Let us stand, socially-distant but united in our endeavours to fulfil the essential role our communities have entrusted in us.

See you in a bookshop soon!

Thanks,

Melvin Kaabwe

SABA President

Good ideas are few and far between in the shackles of lockdown, but the creative team at LAPA publishers put their heads together to come up with the wonderful idea of Tippie-branded masks. The much-loved character, the creation of illustrator Zinelda McDonald, features in the Learn To Read series, and will now help to make ‘masking up’ just a tad less scary for young readers.

Sylvia de Wet, CEO of LAPA, gave some insights as to how it all came about: ‘We made the masks by combining a lot of creative people in the process and we all did our magic from home. Our production team was in contact with an enthusiastic entrepreneur with a vinyl printer at home, and she immediately responded to our plight for printing on the right material. She also proved to be very skilful on a sewing machine. And the Tippie masks were born!’

According to De wet, the uncertainty of the times is unlocking hidden potential in businesses, forcing businesses to find new ways of communicating with customers. ‘Agility, grit and adaptability is key, these will be the portals to survival,’ she says. ‘The combination of an innovative mindset supportive of an evolving collaboration with stakeholders, will prove to be the way forward.’ The masks are currently for sale to all customers of LAPA. Contact  bestellings@lapa.co.za

With lockdown eased to level 4 and hopefully continuing to open up, managers have to prepare for open up shop. Here are post-lockdown to-do list guidelines and suggestions.

• Permits, where applicable
• Deep clean premises (public facing surfaces, multiple times a day)
• Order sanitiser at doors (preferable single entry/exit)
• Masks/visors for staff (or see through Perspex screens mounted on counters)
• Contact-less payment methods
• Email receipts/ invoices
  

• Gloves for staff (difficult to handle money with gloves but OK for back office/receiving)
• Floor markings for queues (1 m spacing)
• Social distancing training for staff
• Thermal scanners to check temperature
• Covid-19 tests for staff (at Dischem)
• TERS claims
• Insurance
• Laminated poster of government rules
• where Public toilets are available, touchless sanitary equipment (soap dispensers, air hand-dryers, foot-operated taps)

Image: Mohamed Hassan/Pixabay

Image: Harinath R/Pixabay

The Department of Basic education on 18 April, announced the postponement of the May/June Matric examination. More than 350 000 part-time learners some who did not meet the pass requirements and others who want to rewrite to improve their marks will have to wait until November 2020. [Read more]