As the tail of the online inventory of books grows ever longer, what is the point of bricks-and-mortar bookshops? If we can choose our own favourites online, and often pay less for them, do we really need vast book emporia on our high streets carrying only a fraction of what’s available? At QI we think it’s time for a new model bookshop. Books are important. Every human activity finds its correlative in a book. Books change lives. They are tactile, moveable portals to an infinity of new worlds. Instead of dull warehouses, bookshops should become high street academies, enriching people with knowledge and leading the campaign to make the world more interesting.