The EIBF conference will be in Hall 5 at Frankfurt Book Fair. Image: Frankfurter Buchmesse, Alexander Heimann
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Best Practice Exchanges
A second edition of the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) conference is being held at Frankfurt Book Fair on October 12, with the theme “Creative and Innovative Solutions by Bookshops and Booksellers Associations.”
Set in Frankfurt’s Hall 5.1, the Tulip Lounge, the event runs 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Frankfurt Thursday, and its centerpiece is a round-table discussion on the interaction between bookshops and authors.
Featured guests are Francophone Congolese author Alain Mabanckou—currently professor of literature with the University of California at Los Angeles—and New York’s PowerHouse bookstores executive director Susanne König, recently named Frankfurter Buchmesse US Booksellers Prize-winner from Frankfurt Book Fair New York.
The conference is built around two main sessions, “The Best Things I’ve Done in My Bookshop” and “The Best Things My Booksellers Association Has Done.” The goal is an exchange of best practice guidance among booksellers and representatives of various national bookseller associations.
Fabian Paagman
Fabian Paagman, owner of Paagman Bockhandels and Netherlands co-president of the EIBF, will give the keynote address, followed by the first key session to be moderated by Jane Streeter, owner of The Bookcase and a past president of the Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland.
At 11:30 a.m., König and Mabanckou will be in conversation, with audience question and answer to follow.
More speakers on the program include:
- Pierre Coursières, CEO of France’s Le Furet du Nord and board member of the Syndicat des distributeurs de loisirs, culturels (SDLC)
- Kári Árting, of Rit & Rák in the Faroe Islands
- Patrick Musial, owner of Buchhandlung Musial and a board member of the German Booksellers and Publishers Association’s retail committee
- Cristina Benavides and Andrés Pandiella, owners of Spain’s Libreria Lex Nova
- Sveinung Råmundal, owner of Kviteseid Bookshop and member of the Norwegian Booksellers Association
- Nadezhda Mikhaylova, general director of Moscow Book House and president of the Russian Booksellers Association
- Joel Becker, CEO of the Australian Booksellers Association
- Jakub Petr of Knihkupectvi Papyrus and the Czech Booksellers and Publishers Assocation
- Mats Ahlström of Djursholms Bokhandel and president of the Swedish Booksellers Association
Conference registration is free but required because of limited seating. Registration is here.
EIBF’s stated mission is “to further the interests of booksellers vis-à-vis the European institutions and other international organisations.
“EIBF provides decision-makers with professional information about the role of booksellers as economic and cultural stakeholders and advocates for book-friendly policies, for the benefit of all readers.”