A YouTube video that features books that come alive to dance after dark inside a Toronto bookstore is delighting viewers online.

The video, shot inside Type Books's Queen Street West location, uses stop-motion to make the books move to music seconds after the owner locks the door and leaves for the night.

Store owner Joanne Saul was interviewed Tuesday on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning about the video, which she said is generating plenty of interest on social media websites.

“I didn’t sleep a wink last night because I’ve been watching my Twitter feed,” she told Metro Morning host Matt Galloway. “[This video] has struck a chord. People have been responding by the thousands. I think it really is the magic of the printed word. It shows that people still appreciate it.”

'A love letter to books'

Saul said the video is “a love letter to books as objects,” and offers proof that people still love books — and the stores that sell them — despite growing competition from both digital media and online booksellers.

“This video is a tribute, a love letter to books as objects,” she said. “The door closes, the book seller goes home for the day and the party begins. The books get up and dance, they peek around the corner to make sure no one is looking and they have a really good time. It’s magical, it’s whimsical.”

Saul admits these are challenging times for booksellers. Two well known Toronto book stores — the Book Mark on Bloor Street West and Dragon Lady Comics on College Street — are slated to close this month.

“It’s been a hard week for indie book sellers,” said Saul.

“It’s very difficult to have a bricks-and-mortar store right now when we are faced with tremendous competition from non-bricks-and-mortar stores.”

Type Books operates two locations in Toronto and Saul said the key to survival is connecting with the local community and offering innovations, such as the Joy of Books video.

“We have to do something other than retail,” she said. “I think what makes the difference is making ourselves important to our community, because we rely on those customers.”