The Internet has not been kind to independent bookstores, many of which have had to shutter their doors after years in operations. It’s a story told countless times over the past years, but that will bring no comfort to the owners of the Wise Owl Bookshop in Rabat who are having to close their doors for the last time, as demand for paper-and-ink books continues to plummet.

“It is with great sadness we announce that after 20 years we have pulled down the shutters on Wise Owl Bookshop at Rabat for the very last time,” the owners wrote on their Facebook page late last week.

And, this, despite the efforts invested in bringing the store up-to-date, in an attempt to meet and satisfy changing tastes. 

“In a last ditch attempt we recently renovated the bookshop to make it more child friendly, stocked it with new and attractive titles and promoted it... even got a permit for a Cafeteria, to add to the facilities...However, the internet giants, tablet, laptop, mobile, and all the digital gadgets had the upper hand.”

In their farewell to their Rabat store, the owners said “they make lousy businessmen” but their love for books is what has always driven them to find them “a loving home”, emphasising that “the very existence of Malta’s last remaining bookshops depend on you. Stop making the internet giants richer...your local family run bookshop and wonderful staff, their families and livelihood depend on your occasional visit.”

The Wise Owl bookshops in Hamrun, Swieqi or Victorian in Gozo will still remain open, however, so visit to revisit the “feeling of getting absorbed by the stories shouting out at us off the bookshelves of a physical book shop”