Ringing Forums

I see numerous phones being used, but very few books now. Only the traditionalists (like me, I admit) get out their Red Diagrams, or similar.

What is appreciated at 2 towers where I ring is the tower copy of the blue lines in A4 spiral bound format. With that, several of the band can look over one copy together to sort out or explain a detailed point in the method. At that size, it is far easier for several people to see the page and where the a particular point of concern arises, rather than looking at separate books or phones. That however, is not a CCCBR publication, as far as I recall.

The other merit of online material, is that it can be kept up to date readily. This may not be of concern, say for basic blue lines, but for some items, that is important.

One of the advantages of books is that they typically curate information according to their topic and often expand upon raw basics. Whilst more experienced ringers might feel quite comfortable with assessing and selecting material themselves, those less experienced might value the benefit of a more directed collection of information. I usually recommend the "Learning the Ropes" book to new starts - it provides a lot of very useful information at a very modest price.

(I treated myself to Tina and Simon's recent handbell book)

Online access to a wide range of information and aids has grown phenomenally and I often point novices towards these. Quite often people are unaware that such material exists and do not think to search for it - one of the things that the OP notes the bookstall as attempting to remedy.

I think there is value of having a "Merch Store" easily accessible, but the landscape is changing and interest in/need for books is definitely much reduced.

Being involved in the CCCBR publications team there is still a demand for books, at the moment they seem to be flying out the door and many titles are having to be reprinted to keep up with demand. The same as many things in ringing it is finding volunteers to run a bookstall at local level.
Having taught a band from scratch in recent years the one title that the majority have bought is the New Ringer's Book closely followed by Ringing Circles. Especially the former has answers to many questions that ringers have had presented in an easy to use style.