How a 475-year-old guide market within the heart of Paris is surviving in a digital world

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Versatile hours, being your individual boss, contemporary air and views of Notre Dame – it’s a job with loads going for it. Paris’ bouquinistes have been a fixture alongside the banks of the Seine for some 500 years and are decided to maintain their occupation alive.

“It’s my life, it’s not only a job,” 76-year-old Sylvia Brui, who’s been promoting historical books for eight years on Quai de Conti, informed CNN. “We promote issues that we love.”

The historical past of Paris’ world-famous guide retailers dates again to 1550, when a dozen road distributors arrange store on the Île de la Cité, within the coronary heart of the French capital. The commerce took off with the development of the Pont Neuf in 1606, the primary bridge with out buildings atop, providing an unlimited house for brand spanking new distributors of moveable wares.

By the early 1900s, the town standardized the enduring look of the stalls: sellers labored out of metallic bins painted the identical “wagon inexperienced” shade, and their open lids had been designed to protect the riverbank views. In the present day, round 230 booksellers stretch alongside roughly three kilometers of the Seine, providing vintage and up to date books, engravings, stamps and magazines.

It’s a novel setting to understand the written phrase: a skyline of historic stone buildings frames this open-air bookshop.

Booksellers pay no tax or hire however should adjust to strict rules. Vacant spots are allotted and controlled by the Metropolis of Paris by way of a devoted committee. Candidates should apply with a resume and a canopy letter explaining their plans.

“You should present your dedication to books,” Jérôme Callais, president of the Affiliation Culturelle des Bouquinistes de Paris, informed CNN. Twelve new booksellers had been appointed in October 2025.

Every occupancy allow is granted for 5 years. Booksellers should open their stalls at the very least 4 days per week, besides in unhealthy climate. They're allowed to promote outdated books, second-hand books, outdated papers and engravings. They might add a small collection of different gadgets – like cash, medals, outdated stamps and postcards – so long as they don't exceed the contents of a single field.

“You could have expertise, to be educated,” Callais mentioned, “It’s not stunning that almost all of booksellers are over 50, about 80% of them.”

Amongst that older cohort is new bouquiniste Ozan Yigitkeskin, who plans to supply a collection of multilingual books. He determined to arrange store on the quays on the age of 52 after working as an internet guide vendor. “My first job was promoting books by bicycle in Istanbul on the age of 15. I’ve additionally been a typist and a journalist, and I’m nonetheless enthusiastic about books.”

Yigitkeskin is aware of how fragile small bookshops might be, continually struggling to cowl their hire – an issue he boasts he gained’t have as a bouquiniste.

Six years in the past, 35-year-old Camille Goudeau opened her personal stall specializing in science fiction and fantasy on Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, after spending years working for different booksellers.

“I deal in cheap second-hand books to encourage individuals who don’t learn, or learn little or no, or have stopped studying, to learn once more,” she informed CNN.

“I had a 30-year-old girl like that, she didn’t dare go right into a bookstore,” fellow bookseller Sylvia Brui chipped in. “She purchased her first guide right here: ‘The Outdated Man and the Sea.’ Later, she learn Joyce. Now she goes to bookstores.”

Polling from IPSOS/CNL suggests French readers have been shopping for extra second-hand books over the previous decade, with these aged 25 to 34 studying probably the most books per 12 months on common.

Working outdoor: freedom and human connection

Booksellers work outdoor all 12 months spherical, usually with nothing greater than a folding chair for consolation and a tiny desk serving as each desk and counter. Why select this life over the consolation of working in a store?

“I don’t like being caught indoors, and I discover it onerous to work for another person; being a bookseller permits me to be fully impartial,” bouquiniste Camille Goudeau defined to CNN.

“It’s a really direct means of connecting with folks,” Goudeau added. The stalls are “a refuge for some folks for whom it’s their every day stroll, their solely every day interplay.”

Such moments of human connection make all of the distinction, mentioned Claire Leriche, a bookseller for 15 years. “When folks purchase three postcards and I present them the stamp, explaining it was despatched in 1904, they're blissful as a result of there's a little story that goes with it.”

Laura Contreras, 26, a literature pupil researching Simone de Beauvoir’s letters, involves the quays usually, principally to purchase philosophical works and essays. “There’s historic worth; every merchandise has its personal story,” she mentioned.

Marie-Samuelle Klein, 23, additionally comes repeatedly. “I find it irresistible since you all the time discover gems,” she mentioned. “I like books once they’re outdated, their scent. There’s one thing symbolic about it, figuring out that many individuals have learn it earlier than me.”

Confronted by change – whether or not or not it's e-books or on-line booksellers – the bouquinistes are decided to outlive.

“It’s as much as us to make folks come,” mentioned Jérôme Callais, “Right here there's eye-to-eye communication between human beings. We offer an oasis of humanity and tradition.”

The newest risk got here from surprising quarters: the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The bouquinistes needed to combat displacement earlier than the Video games’ spectacular opening ceremony was held alongside the Seine. A public outcry helped them keep their toehold on central Paris.

Yearly, folks say, “Oh my God, it’s horrible, the booksellers are dying out,” Camille Goudeau recounted from the banks of the Seine, “however in truth, we’re nonetheless right here, and I hope we’ll be right here for a very long time to return.”