San Diego’s independent and used bookstores may appear to be sliding into the inevitable abyss, but the passion of their owners, along with unwavering optimism and the ability to adapt just might stave off extinction.

Passionately independent: Adams Avenue Bookstore.

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Used bookstores survive mostly through niche offerings, like Adams Avenue Bookstore’s rare and out-of-print collections, and Mysterious Galaxy’s magic and science fiction titles.

“It may sound hopelessly idealistic, and maybe it is, but to me, a good bookstore is somewhere between a business and church,” says Craig Maxwell, owner of Maxwell’s House of Books in La Mesa. “It’s not exactly place of worship, but it’s not just a business either.”

In the 1990s, many independent sellers were forced out by large chains whose economies of scale allowed them to move more merchandise for less money. But all brick and mortar stores are facing the larger threat of online sales, says Brian Lucas, owner of Adams Avenue Bookstore.

“From what I can gather, Borders is in pretty deep trouble, and I’m not sure how healthy Barnes & Noble is now,” says Lucas, who is the third owner of the 45-year-old old shop.

“There used to be 11 bookstores on Adams Avenue, almost all of them exclusively used bookstores,” says Lucas. “The last big store on Adams closed two months ago.”

For their owners, the motivation to run a bookshop is as much a personal mission as profit motive.

“I knew it was a gamble,” says Maxwell, who opened 6 and 1/2 years ago. “I knew it would be a roll of the dice, but I believe in the mission of good, used bookstores. I’ve always been an avid reader myself and never wanted to do anything else but read and be around books.”

Maxwell’s grandfather, Vernon Wahrenbrock, founded the iconic Wahrenbrocks Book Shop in 1935. The downtown institution at Broadway and 7th Street – considered the “flagship” of the county’s used bookstores – closed this summer, signaling an unmistakable milestone.

While San Diego still counts its share of independents – 67 of them are listed by San Diego Book Sellers Association – many of them sell exclusively online through search engines like Amazon.com or AbeBooks.com.

Both Maxwell’s and Adams Avenue bookstores move a lot of their own merchandise online. For consumers, buying books online is simply the easiest way find a specific title at the lowest possible price.

“Obviously, everyone is continually trying to adapt to the online phenomenon,” says Lucas. “We’ve been selling online since the very beginning. …We’re trying to do the best job we can with the online stuff. In addition to our own website, we sell through quite a few listing sites.”

Yet, what is lost is the serendipity of just browsing. How often did you walk into a bookstore and leave with a book you never intended to buy?

Maxwell says when his customers walk into his bookstore, they go right to one area more than ever before.

“I think the habits and frames of mind of people are really shaped by the web,” he says. “People shop online in the subjects they’re interested in. When they do go to bookstores, they do same thing. Prior to e-sales, we had more generalists that came into stores that were sort of open to whatever caught their fancy.”