Booksellers to Shed Clothes to Save Jobs

By Siobhan O’Leary

Fewer Germans are landing training jobs at bookstores, says the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training. As reported in buchreport, just 578 people completed apprenticeships in bookselling in 2009, that’s some 26.6% fewer than in 2008.  This may not come as a huge surprise given that both the Hugendubel and Mayersche book chains announced last summer they would be cutting hundreds of “permanent” positions and they would stop recruiting new trainees.

In an attempt partly to reverse this trend and also to spice up the profession in general, the students of Mediacampus Frankfurt — a specialized school for the German book trade founded by the Börsenverein — are teaming up with publisher Bramann Verlag to publish the first ever (are you ready for this?) erotic bookseller calendar! Casting and photo shoots of the steamiest booksellers (both male and female) will take place in March. The photographer will be J. Konrad Schmidt, who is known for his work in Elle, among other magazines. Five thousand copies will be printed and a euro will be donated to trainee projects for each copy sold. (Email Simone Pfeifer for more details.)

(Image of the Birthday Suit Bear, available from the Vermont Teddy Bear company)