The Bookseller.com

8th September 2008

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France makes bookshop pledge

13.03.08 Barbara Casassus

France's culture minister Christine Albanel has inked a deal aimed at saving France's independent bookshops. The deal was signed on the eve of the Paris Book Fair, Salon du Livre, which opens tonight (13th March) amid controversy over Israel's presence as the guest of honour.

Albanel has signed an agreement with Antoine Gallimard, head of the bookshop development association (ADELC), to create a fund to finance changes in independent bookshop ownership. The fund, derived from several sources, will total €3m. Its aim is to help finance the takeover of independent shops when the owner retires, and thus prevent them falling into the hands of chain booksellers.

Albanel is due to take the place of France's president Nicolas Sarkozy at the opening ceremony this evening. Israeli president Shimon Peres, who is in France on a five-day official visit, and the French president were due to inaugurate the revamped fair together.

Calls for a boycott from the Arab world multiplied in the run-up to the event, including from the 50-nation Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO).

Publishers associations from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and the Lebanese culture ministry cancelled their stands. Books from the three Maghreb countries will be represented by booksellers, according to Serge Eyrolles, president of the French Publishers Association, which organises the event.

The calls for a boycott were condemned by the International Publishers Association and Albanel. "Israel has been exhibiting at the fair for 10 years, and no-one has said anything before," Eyrolles said. "We have invited Israeli literature, not the country."

A total of 39 Israeli authors will attend the fair, including Aharon Appelfeld, Ron Barkai, Etgar Keret, Amos Oz, Avraham B. Yehoshua, and David Grossman, leader of the Peace Now movement. Israel, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, could a similar outcry in Italy over its invitation as guest of honour at the Turin Book Fair on May 8-12.

Up to 3,000 authors will attend the Paris fair, a total of 5,685 book signings and 368 debates and lectures are scheduled, and the Wednesday--a day off for primary school pupils--has been restored. More spacious aisles, more debates with authors and more emphasis on young people have been planned this year.

The French Booksellers Association (Syndicat de la Librairie Française - SNE) will have its own stand for the first time. Advertising support has been stepped up, and new technologies including e-books, electronic satchels, digital libraries and digitisation in general will have 500 square metres (5,400 square feet) to themselves.

 

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