The Italian bookshop in Vienna named best bookshop of the year 2025

The Austrian Bookshop Award, jointly promoted by the Ministry of Arts and Culture of the Republic of Austria and the Austrian Booksellers Association, celebrates the vitality of the book scene by rewarding the best bookshops for innovation and creativity, recognising them as places of culture, education and encounter even in the age of online commerce.

The award-winning bookshops in 2025 are:

• Buchhandlung List – Internationale Literatur, Vienna
• Bücher am Spitz, Vienna
• Buchhandlung Schachinger, Schärding
• Kurdirektion Verlagsbuchhandlung, Bad Ischl
• Stöhrs Lesefutter, Traiskirchen

The jury’s motivation:

In recent years, Libreria List has established itself as a reference point for lovers of literature and inspiring non-fiction books. Its distinctive feature? The internationality of its offering. At List, you can find books in several languages – mainly German, French and Italian – with sections curated by native-speaking booksellers. The English-language selection has also been expanded recently, and a small selection in Spanish is being developed for early 2025.

But List is not just a bookshop: it is also a lively venue that hosts readings, meetings, community events and projects in collaboration with other organisations. Thanks to its links with international cultural institutions, the bookshop often manages to invite authors from France and Italy. It also collaborates actively with schools and nurseries.

At a time when the book sector is facing severe economic pressures, Libreria List demonstrates that it is possible to have a clear vision, make careful choices and remain sustainable. And that books, when treated with passion and courage, can still be a world that grows, not just one that survives.