Tom Hodgkinson, co-founder of the Idler Academy, which is collaborating on events with Libreria, “applauds” the ban. “In doing so they present a genuine retreat and refuge, where real books and depth of thinking are privileged over Snapchat and tech,” he tells BBC Culture. “They’ve even got an old-school record player in there which is a nice touch. And The Idler is all about providing a pause for thought and fun in the day, so we’re really looking forward to hosting events in the shop where people can get together and indulge in the convivial pursuit of talking about ideas together.”

Digital deluge

Conviviality, perhaps, is the key word. At a recent event at Libreria, guests were invited to ‘swig and sniff’ their way through 20th-Century fiction. While passages by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Patrick Hamilton were read out and discussed, the drinks described in the text were sampled and the relevant scents passed around the audience.

So could it be that people are becoming more mindful of the downside of constant digital connectedness? Libreria’s founders (who also founded a co-working space, Second Home) have said that we have reached a ‘cultural tipping point’, with book lovers rebelling against the ‘digital deluge’. Certainly, it seems that the East London store isn’t alone in its championing of the tangible, communal exchange of ideas.

In London, Review Bookshop in Peckham, Ink@84 in Highbury and the LRB Bookshop are among the numerous bookshops that share a similar approach. And globally, there is a buzzing, buoyant industry being made out of literary talks, philosophical gatherings and open mic storytelling events – from the Moth in New York, to the now-worldwide School of Life.

And it seems that reports of the death of the paper book have been greatly exaggerated. There are signs that some e-book users are actually returning to print, or starting to use both paper books and e-books, alternating between the two. According to the Association of American Publishers, e-book sales fell by 10 per cent between January and May in 2015 – a figure based on data from 1,200 publishers. Certainly, when it comes to browsing, it is the unexpected discoveries to be made in a physical bookstore that differentiate it from the algorithm-led online experience. Serendipity, or “creative collision” as Paddy Butler puts it, can make for interesting connections - looking laterally and outside your usual interests and genres can throw up some surprising choices.