The last traditional independent bookstore in Newcastle is up for sale.
A buyer is being sought for MacLean's Booksellers at Hamilton, with owner Amanda Shirley saying "now is the right time to try something new".
"We've had the store for 20 years - it's a long time," Mrs Shirley said.
She owns the business with husband Max, who used to work in the shop.
"We're proud of what we've achieved and have loved being part of our local community," Mrs Shirley said.
She said it was "loads of hard work" getting through lockdowns during the pandemic.
"Everything is starting to emerge again and it's probably the right time to put the shop on the market," she said.
"We're putting it out there and we'll see what happens."
She said the shop needed "someone who is willing to come in and re-energise it".
"I hope and think it has a future. It just needs someone to come in with passion."
She said the buyer would ideally be a "local person who would like to connect with the community, as MacLean's have done".
"There are lots of opportunities for a new owner to come in and revive in-store events," she said.
"It could be a community group that wants to come in and share the job to keep the store going. You never know."
Newcastle Writers Festival director Rosemarie Milsom said prospective buyers of the store would have "big shoes to fill".
Ms Milsom said independent bookshops were "a community asset".
"Ever since the festival started, MacLean's have run the festival bookshop for us," she said.
"It's a huge undertaking. They order all the books and oversee it."
She said MacLean's had "supported a lot of local writers" with book launches and by stocking their books.
Hunter author Todd Alexander said MacLean's were "an integral part of the literary community up here".
"I've lived here for 10 years and they've been there at events happily and patiently selling my books," said Mr Alexander, who wrote the bestseller Thirty Thousand Bottles of Wine and a Pig Called Helga.
Hamilton author Ruth Cotton said MacLean's had "always stocked books about Newcastle and Hamilton's history".
"They like to support people who self-publish, not just authors with mainstream publishers," said Ms Cotton, author of the Hidden Hamilton books and the memoir A Fragile Hold - Living with multiple sclerosis and other uncertainties.
She said the staff had "always been very skilled", giving the example of looking for a book for her grandson.
"They will patiently sit with you in the children's section for as long as it takes to find the book that really hits the spot," she said.
Ms Milsom said it took "special people to run a bookshop".
"What sets a bookshop apart from walking into a Big W and buying a book is you have staff on hand with knowledge and experience."
Ms Milsom doesn't want to contemplate the bookstore closing.
"It would be a shame for Newcastle and more broadly the Hunter if the worst-case scenario happens and they don't have a buyer. We all hope someone will step in.
"We don't have a cinema in the inner city, which is bad enough."
A store called Betty Loves Books opened recently at The Station in Newcastle, selling second-hand books and a limited number of new titles.
It is among numerous stores in Newcastle that sell second-hand books.
As for the retail chains, a Dymocks store was at Charlestown Square for years but closed in March.
QBD bookshops remain at Westfield Kotara and Charlestown Square.
Ms Milsom said the sale of the Hamilton store "isn't a sign that books are dead".
Book sales in Australia rose 7.2 per cent last year to $1.3 billion, according to Nielsen BookData.
And printed books remain popular, despite competition from ebooks and audiobooks.
While people have long loved traditional bookstores, online stores like Booktopia and Amazon have taken a large slice of the market.
Mrs Shirley said many people preferred printed books.
"At the weekend at Belmont Library, there were 30 people discussing this at an author talk," she said.
Asked if they preferred to read a printed book, about 90 per cent raised their hands.
"Whether they're borrowing it from the library or buying it, they still prefer the printed book," she said.
And parents love it when their children read printed books because it gets them off screens.
"Children generally prefer print," Mrs Shirley said.
Ms Milsom said running a bookstore was "hard work".
Mrs Shirley agreed, while highlighting that people generally have a "romantic notion of bookstores".
They may think a bookstore owner "just sits and reads and, when customers come in, talk to them about books all day".
"That sounds amazing, but I haven't done that," she quipped.
"The first five years I was maybe doing a little bit of that, but then we got bigger and bigger.
"We're more than just a little shop. We do so much more."
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