Receive a book and a rose: France prepares to celebrate its independent bookshops

The Fête de la librairie indépendante will celebrate its 27th edition in bookshops across France this Saturday (April 26), with visitors being offered a book and a rose. 

The festival will unite almost 700 bookshops in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg and is organised by the Verbes association and librairie des Abbesses in Paris.

French publisher Gallimard has printed 26,000 copies of a book titled Esprit es-tu là? The work features five stories printed in a single volume, which will be offered to customers of independent bookshops across France to mark the occasion. 

Read also: Rocketing sales lead to new English bookshop in Nice

Participating visitors will also receive a rose alongside their book, reflecting the tradition practised on Catalonia’s Sant Jordi, also known as Saint George's Day (April 23). 

Organisers of the festival aim to encourage French-speaking countries to adopt the Catalan cultural tradition. A record 1.98 million books were sold in Spain on Saint George's Day in 2024. 

Find a participating bookshop near you:

Read also: Photos: the best English bookshops in Paris according to Vogue France

Support for independent bookshops is falling

The theme of the 2025 edition is: Why are bookshops not just like any other business?

The Centre National du Livre (CNL) recently published their biannual study on French reading habits titled, Les Français et la lecture. The findings show independent bookshops have fallen behind superstores as the most popular place to buy books for the first time since the initial study was conducted in 2015. 

This news marks a turning point in a previously sharp upward trend which saw a record number of bookshops open in France in recent years.

France has typically made an effort to protect independent librairies from the dominance of major online retailers. 

In 2023 the French government instituted a flat €3 delivery fee for books ordered online for home delivery, if the total cost of the book/s was under €35.

It does not apply to orders made directly with local bookshops for readers to then collect, and is intended to defend the country’s independent bookshops by enticing readers to go in-store.

Amazon was quick to criticise the law presenting their case on April 3, 2025 at the EU Court of Justice.

EU judge Bruno Stromsky reiterated that the government measure was unlikely to benefit the 3,500+ independent bookshops in France given that they represent the ‘densest network’ in the world. 

Government figures also show that France has 15,500 public libraries, compared to 3,000 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A final ruling regarding the €3 book delivery fee will be given in the coming months.