But they just buy exactly the same books, from exactly the same publishers, as every other bookshop in the world. Where are they adding any kind of protection against anything?
My local bookshop sells the same as I could get in a chain bookshop. The books aren't any different! What's the point?
And anyway you don't need bookshops to disseminate free thought, if that's what you mean. You can do that with a website.
Most independent bookshops don't solve the problem you're describing. They just buy the same books from the same publishers as everyone else. They don't create any variety. It's the same books!
Most of the time, I don't go to the bookstore with a particular book in mind. Instead, it's a Saturday morning and the weather is nice, so I want to go for a walk somewhere. The bookstore is a good choice, and maybe I'll find an interesting title there. If my bookstore shuts down, I lose one more important walking destination.
Unfortunately I can't buy that experience on Amazon, even with same-day shipping.
This might be a condition particular to walkable cities, though. I wouldn't drive to a bookstore.
Of course Bookshop doesn't help here either, but if it can keep their doors open then I'll be able to keep walking through them...
They add protection against monopoly which is dangerous, especially when talking books, to allow in a free society.
They don’t add anything in the narrow context we are usually meaning when we say such.
There’s always another abstraction that says otherwise. And in the case of society, I’d prefer a robust, unmonopolized trade.
But most people don’t think in abstractions, opting for adherence to obvious social norms.