In Argentina, bookstores are facing a growing crisis, with sales dropping sharply when adjusted for inflation. According to the Federación Argentina de Librerías, Papelerías y Afines (FALPA), independent bookstores have seen a 41.5% decline in real revenue between January-August 2023 and the same period in 2026. The federation’s report, based on data from 1,200 stores, also shows a 25% drop in sales volume. Rising costs for services, communications, transport, and logistics have further strained the industry—what cost 100 pesos in 2023 now costs 131.1 pesos, but only 58.5 pesos remain from that original amount in 2026 due to inflation. FALPA has declared the situation an "emergency" for bookstores and is calling for urgent political action. The federation has requested the effective implementation of Law 25.542, which mandates a uniform price for books, as well as tax credit mechanisms, specific funding for independent stores, and reduced shipping costs for books. It also wants local and regional stores to be included in institutional purchases. To address the crisis, FALPA has proposed the creation of a National Book and Bookstore Table, which would bring together public authorities, booksellers, publishers, distributors, and authors to discuss solutions. The president of FALPA, Jorge García, has reached out to lawmakers to present the "bookstore emergency" to Congress. Meanwhile, the province of Córdoba has taken a concrete step by distributing 50,000 books to secondary schools, teacher training institutes, and other educational spaces. The books were purchased from 27 local and regional publishers using a 550 million peso budget. However, not all of the books distributed came from this fund—some were sourced from the Agencia Córdoba Cultura, the Biblioteca Córdoba, and a donation from the publisher Comunicarte. Similar concerns are emerging in Mexico, where the Cámara Nacional de la Industria Editorial Mexicana (CANIEM) has also asked President Claudia Sheinbaum for urgent measures. These include enforcing the single price for books, adjusting taxes for booksellers and distributors, increasing library acquisitions, and strengthening national reading policies. In both Argentina and Mexico, the issues of book pricing, institutional purchases, and the survival of physical sales points are increasingly seen as interconnected challenges that require coordinated solutions.