Amsterdam 14-06-08. Booksellers from around the world gathered this week in Amsterdam to attend the joint annual conference of the European and the  International Booksellers Association. EBF is the umbrella organisation of the national booksellers associations in Europe; IBF is its international equivalent regrouping individual booksellers as well as some wholesalers.

Under this year’s theme of “From Basic to Virtual Bookselling”, the conference addressed the challenges the book trade is currently facing and the need for booksellers to adapt to changing business models and increased digitization. Some of the seminars and working sessions took place at the Centraal Boekhuis, a book distribution facility jointly run by booksellers and publishers, which stocks around 40 million books and also provides its customers with a whole range of ancillary information and logistic and financial services.

Since the beginning of the year, Centraal Boekhuis has started to invest in RFID technology and the EBF/IBF delegates were presented with a solid business case in favour of the adoption of the chip based tag system (already fully implemented in several Dutch book shops and libraries), which allows bookshops to significantly save on time and costs. The conference participants were also visibly impressed by the focused campaigns of the Dutch Foundation for the collective promotion of the book trade (CPNB) and in general by the efficiency and the good cooperation between all the partners in the Dutch book trade chain.

EBF and IBF also held their respective General Assemblies. EBF members held a partial election of the Executive Committee which is now composed of 11 Members: John Mc Namee was re-elected as EBF President for another three years, as well as Tim Godfray (U.K), Lars-Erik Linder (Sweden), Luc Tessens (Belgium). Newcomers to the Executive Committee include Javier Camara, a bookseller from Spain, Kyra Dreher from the Boersenverein in Germany and Randi Ogrey from the Norwegian Booksellers Association.

Iakovos Kokkalis (Greece, Vice-President), Olaf Winslow (Denmark, Treasurer), Ari Doeser, (the Netherlands) and Manfred Keiper (Germany) are still appointed until the statutory meeting of spring 2009.The IBF plenary session adopted a statement on freedom of expression underlining the importance of books as a means to peaceful dialogue and condemning any neglect or disregard of this fundamental human right – including restricted Internet access - by governments and authorities.

Click here to access the statement.

Click here to access the article (PDF format)

This week's Australian Booksellers Association conference had reaffirmed the importance of the digitisation debate for booksellers, according to European Booksellers Federation (EBF) president John Mc Namee.

Mc Namee was the conference's keynote speaker, and he used his address to highlight the opportunities and threats to booksellers posed by the digitisation of book content. He told WBN that his own federation and its sister the International Booksellers Federation were ‘totally consumed' by the digitisation debate, which they were ‘looking at from many viewpoints.' The main drive of his presentation was that booksellers need to change their businesses, get involved in selling digital products, and forge new relationships with publishers to ensure that bookshops are not bypassed in the new digital supply chain.

‘Publishers and booksellers need to understand we're in the same game,' he told WBN. ‘There's a new hill for us to climb. Whatever rules and regulations applied in the past are really going to be redundant in the future.' He added that the global nature of internet-based delivery systems meant that a global solution to territorial rights was required, to ensure that booksellers knew quickly and easily what they could and could not sell, and to where.

‘The message [the EBF] brought to our presentation has been reinforced in all the [conference] presentations,' he continued. ‘We're agreed that change is necessary. I'm quite happy we're on the right track.' Having said that, Mc Namee affirmed there was ‘a hell of a lot of thinking still to be done' to create the solutions that were needed.

Mc Namee was very positive about the ABA conference itself. The trade exhibition day, and the opportunity to meet and talk to so many people had been ‘absolutely brilliant.'

Mc Namee attended the conference partly to recognise the ABA's recent renewal of its IBF membership. He emphasised the benefit of membership both for the ABA (‘it's a bit like an insurance policy') and also to individual booksellers who can become associate members and have access to ‘international contacts no telephone directory can help you with.'

 

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 14/03/2007
 

Articles collected by EBF/IBF in the Press on Digitisation: 2005-February 2006.

Click here to get the pdf file.

The President of the European Booksellers Federation, Mr. John Mc Namee, and the President of the International Booksellers Federation, Mr. Eric Hardin, have been invited to inaugurate the International Booksellers Centre with Mr. Juergen Boos, the President of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The event will take place on Wednesday 19 October at 3pm in Hall 4.0 in the presence of book trade representatives, publishers, booksellers, members of the Boersenverein, and will be followed by a reception.

Commented John Mc Namee: "To be given the opportunity to speak in front of my European colleagues is indeed a privilege and honour. EBF is an organization which understands individual cultural significance while recognising the importance of collective representation. We understand there are opportunities to learn from each other and to teach each other. This facility will become more significant in the future as the models for bookselling will undoubtedly change, and change at a faster rate. Education is vital and the seminars arranged here at Frankfurt will prove invaluable to those delegates attending. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Frankfurt Book Fair in the area of professional training."

Eric Hardin added: "I am very pleased at the partnership which has been established between the International and European Booksellers Federations and the Frankfurt Book Fair for the first time ever this year. This is a very good initiative. The professional seminars we are organizing give booksellers the opportunity to learn from recognized experts, and improve their daily practice of bookselling. Booksellers have to adapt to a fast-changing environment and I am delighted to see that the Frankfurt Book Fair acknowledges the importance of bookselling."

Note to the press: John Mc Namee and Eric Hardin will be available for interviews at the reception which follows the inauguration.

If you intend to take part in the inauguration and the reception, please inform Fran Dubruille, EBF and IBF Director at eurobooks@skynet.be
 

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Read more (word document)

More pictures of the conference are available in the "Events" section

The biggest ever European and International Booksellers Federations conference took place in Ireland at the Great Southern Hotel in Killarney from Thursday 6^th to Saturday 8^th May 2004. With 75 delegates attending from Ireland and all over Europe and from as far away as Africa and China the conference was a very important mark on the Booksellers calendar following the accession of ten new Member States of the E.U. last weekend. Entitled ‘Small and Successful’, the conference aimed at informing and inspiring participants on key issues in the book trade. The 2004 conference, jointly organised by the European Booksellers Federation and the International Booksellers Federation, explored 1001 ways of being ‘Small AND successful…’.

The Congress also provided participants with the opportunity to thank Jochen Groenke, Director of the German Booksellers Association, Boersenverein, for his huge contribution to the book trade over the last 25 years. Jochen served as an EBF Executive Committee Member and as an IBF Council Member for most of his career in the book trade. Jochen has now retired and all participants wished him a well-deserved and happy retirement.

Participants expressed their profound satisfaction at a vibrant event, organized with the excellent collaboration of the Irish branch of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland.  A special and warm thank you goes to Geraldine O’ Dea, the President of the Irish branch, and to John Mc Namee, whose first-class collaboration with EBF Secretariat ahead of the conference was highly efficient.

John also proved to be a wonderful “animateur” and certainly contributed to the “craic” at the conference. (“Craic” is a Gaelic word, meaning great fun, entertainment).

As regards the professional experience and the usefulness of such an event in their daily business life, participants expressed the view that the conference was an excellent learning experience, and that they were going back home with new ideas or hints to make their business more interesting or successful.
Here below, a selection among the many messages sent to EBF/IBF Secretariat:

Commented Juancho Pons, bookseller in Zaragoza, and from the Spanish B.A, CEGAL: “All the presentations were very good and interesting, the number of participants grew, the Irish Mist (that atmosphere only an Irish person is able to create and which makes you feel so good you feel like you are in your own home wherever you are), the great food and even better drinks... have made this one of the best Conferences that I have ever been to, if not the best”

Patricia Prizeman, Argosy Bookhops, Ireland: “It was wonderful to meet you all. I had a great time, it was a privilege to meet such lovely warm people from all around the world. I thought the conference was a real success. It was nice to hear other bookseller’s opinions and advise”

Reetta Kotkaniemi, Info Chain, Book and Office Supply Stores, Finland: “Thank you so much for the very well planned and organized Conference in lovely Killarney! It was a pleasure to participate and I really enjoyed every moment. It was very nice to get to know everybody and the programme was very interesting too. It gave me fresh ideas for our bookshop marketing. For example the book week idea was fantastic and we are now trying to find a form that fits here in Finland"

Francis Bennett, Nielsen Book Data, U.K.: “What a conference! I don't think I have every attended a happier conference in my life. It was quite brilliantly organised - and was enormous fun and it was, of course, tremendously useful. I cannot thank you enough for letting me speak at the conference - it was a great privilege to be there, among such a wonderful group of people.”

Inara Belinkaja, bookseller in Riga and from the Latvian B.A: “I am very happy to tell you the very best thanks for the nice days we have spent in Ireland. This will stay for a long time in our memory. It was a beautiful opportunity to meet such interesting people and to listen to many interesting and useful things. And I see a very long future for our organisations, because there are still a lot questions to be solved and cleared, which are common to all of us.”

Brussels, 13 May 2004

For more information, contact:
EBF President –- Doris Stockmann: doris.stockmann@pp.inet.fi
IBF President –- Eric Hardin: hardin@pave.fr
EBF/IBF Secretariat – Fran Dubruille: frandubruille.eurobooks@skynet.be

Click here to access the press release in a word document format

Publishers and Booksellers call out to Romano Prodi to put an end to the Turkish compulsory banderole system
On 30 March 2004, the International PublishersAssociation (IPA) and the International Booksellers Federation (IBF) sent a letter to the President of the EU Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, seeking his assistance in calling upon the Turkish Authorities to abandon the compulsory banderole system, a system jeopardizing freedom of expression and freedom to publish. Both organizations expressed concern about the regulation laying an obligation to affix a “banderole/hologram” on each copy of books published in Turkey. IPA and IBF view the Turkish banderole system as a potential tool for censorship. Says Eric Hardin, President of IBF: “IBF, which will celebrate its 50^th anniversary in 2005, has constantly been fighting, over the years, in order to guarantee the freedom of expression. Booksellers are aware that it is their duty to take part in this battle for democracy”.

Click here for the full text of the press release 

Yvonne Steinberger, handed over IBF Presidency to Eric Hardin at a dinner kindly offered by the Boersenverein. Said Eric Hardin: “ It is an honour for me to accept this position, and I will do my best to contribute to IBF development. I want to express my profound gratitude to Yvonne, who worked very hard and efficiently for two mandates as IBF President.”

IBF Secretariat is happy to report that, in addition, IBF Members can be very proud of their newly-elected President who was recently decorated by the former French Minister of Culture, Ms. Catherine Tasca, and made “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres”. This decoration is the second in importance in France and comes just after the well-known “Légion d’honneur”, the highest one.
The order of arts and literature (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) aims at rewarding all those who have significantly contributed to the spreading of French Art and literature in the world.
IBF Council is now composed as follows:

Eric Hardin President
Yvonne Steinberger Past President
Stelios Sakkas Treasurer
Avin Domnitz
Jochen Groenke
Marina Kameneva
Yang Muzhi
Doris Stockmann

Excellent conference in Paris !

La Fédération Internationale des Libraires à Paris

Around 5 years ago, when Internet selling seemed to be an inevitable evolution for many businesses, including bookselling, the common feeling in the traditional book trade, was a sense of threat and fear.
In 2002, when looking back at what has really happened to Internet businesses and traditional booksellers, opinions are far more moderate. This IBF round table intends to debate the past, present, and future situation of Internet bookselling.

• Does Internet selling of books represent a real threat to bookshops or an opportunity?
• How have bookshops reacted to what was sensed as a danger to the trade?
• Will the situation of Internet selling change within the next few years? Will e-books become a competitor to the p-book?

Guest speakers:
Eric Hardin, Vice-President of IBF, Managing Director or 3 bookshops in the Parisian Region, France - www.pave.fr - Daniel Ropers, Managing Director Bol.com Nederland - www.bol.com - Peter Landford, Managing Director of "Universitesbogladen", an academic bookshop on the Campus of Copenhagen University, Denmark www.universitetsbogladen.dk Kristian Laiho, Managing Director, Eweline - electronic non-fiction, Finland

At its General Meeting in St Petersburg on the 10^th June, the International Booksellers Federation unanimously elected Eric Hardin as its Vice-President.
Eric was elected in IBF Council in 2001, during the Limassol General Meeting. He is the owner of 3 bookshops near Paris in France, “Les librairies du Pavé”.

IBF is also extremely pleased to welcome a Chinese delegate in the Council, Mr. Yang Muzhi, who, among other responsibilities is the Vice-Minister of the General Administration of Press and Publication in China and also the President of the Books & Periodicals Distribution Association of China.

IBF Council is now composed as follows:

Mr. Eric Hardin, Les librairies du Pavé, France, President
Mr. Avin Domnitz, U.S.A.
Mr. Jochen Grönke, Germany
Ms. Marina Kameneva, Russia
Mr. Yang Muzhi, China
Mr. Stelios Stakkas, Cyprus
Ms. Doris Stockmann, Finland

A MUCH- APPRECIATED BOOKSELLERS’ GET- TOGETHER

In addition to the General Meeting, The International Booksellers Federation and the European Booksellers Federation held a two-day joint professional conference organised in collaboration with the Book Distributors of Independent States.

Definitely future-orientated, the congress dealt with themes like “the changes in the book trade and how to cope with them” or “survival strategies for independent bookstores”, or else “the globalisation of the book market”. The event involved more than 80 participants, including a large Russian delegation and delegates from National Booksellers Associations as well as individual bookseller members.

Marina Kameneva, President of the Russian B.A.: “The professional programme was quite rich. There is no doubt every participant found something useful for his own business. This is important as it is the first time Russia has taken part in the discussion of professional problems at the international level.”

Sandra Vlasta, delegate of the International Congress of Young Booksellers (ICYB), Austria: “I really enjoyed the congress. The professional programme was very informative. I got a lot of new interesting ideas. I also enjoyed the visit to the bookshops though unfortunately we did not have enough time…”

Mats Gyllengahm, speaker, from the independent BOKIA bookshops chain, Sweden: “ I must say I was surprised and satisfied by the Congress. I was glad to meet so many people with open minds, ready to share their professional experience…”

Tim Godfray, Chief Executive Officer ofthe Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom and Ireland: “Very many thanks for all your hard work in helping to put together the recent EBF General Assembly in St Petersburg. I very much enjoyed the long weekend. Having had myself to organize the occasional conference over the years I know only too well all the work that is involved”

Rodrigo Dias, President of Associazione Librai Italiani, Italy: “I think the congress was very good. To my mind the programme was very informative and it is possible to make practical use of all the presentations…. The city is very impressive, I enjoyed sightseeing very much.”

Nina Belikova, Bookshop “Molodaya Gvardia”, Moscow, Russia: “This is the second time I have taken part in a congress of this kind. It seems to me that the Russian B.A. managed to organize it an a proper way… Some of the reports were very interesting. It was also nice that Russian colleagues got an opportunity to discuss the reports informally. This made me think of organizing local meetings here in Russia for our booksellers.”

For further information:
The President: info@dereyghere.be
The Director: frandubruille.eurobooks@skynet.be