A visit to “Forlagsentralen ANS” one of the two major distributors in Norway, provided a very concrete view of the book trade and the complex logistics involved.  

Participants are very grateful to the Norwegian B.A. for its wonderful hospitality and the very professional organisation of the visit.  

Commented José Pinho, bookseller in Lisbon and President of the bookselling branch of APEL, the Portuguese association of booksellers and publishers: “ First of all I really appreciated Norwegian hospitality, their open-mindedness to provide us with business information and figures. It is very important for all of us to know what they do in other countries. I was also impressed by the way publishers, booksellers and distributors work together in such a big country, where some bookshops are more than 1000 Km from Oslo and all the same get deliveries 2 or 3 times a week, without any additional charges.” 

Ewa Bluszcz, publisher in Poland and Member of the Board of the Polish Chamber of Books: “Above all, I wanted to learn about the Book Net Agreement, the relationships between booksellers, publishers, how distribution works and how fixed prices influence the functioning of the whole market. I also appreciated what I learned about the way the Booksellers Association is organised, their initiatives, national literacy rates and reading market.” 

Marina Kameneva, bookseller in Moscow and Director of the Association of book distributors of Independent States: “ I had been wishing to visit Norway for a very long time, for two reasons: on one hand, as the leader of the Russian B.A. I was very interested in seeing how the Norwegian B.A. organises its activities, on the other hand, as a bookseller, I wanted to see what I could bring back to Russia, where the book trade suffered a lot during the ‘Perestroïka’ period. I was very interested in seeing the use of new technologies and the logistics of distribution. Of course, I am aware that it is impossible to replicate a system in another country without adapting it to the specificities of your own country.”

Fran Dubruille, Director of EBF and IBF: “ More than the others, I have the impression, as I became involved in the book trade quite recently - in 2001 - that I have learnt an awful lot about the book trade and the complexity of the relationships between stakeholders and the whole issue of logistics. The fact that our group consisted of only 5 persons was an advantage as we all had a chance to ask questions and to actively participate in discussions. It was also easier to create a friendly atmosphere among people who did not all know each other well when they first met on 5 March. Of course, if the group had been bigger, it would have been great to see that more booksellers wanted to learn more about the Norwegian book trade. Some of our colleagues expressed their regrets that they could not be with us, as they would very much liked to have joined, but could not because of other commitments. We will try to report to them!”

In spite of all the work this visit created for her, Anette Stenhaug also said that she found the visit profitable, thanks to the questions posed and participants’ contributions in discussions. Representatives of the Forlasentralen ANS also expressed their pleasure at welcoming foreign visitors, which is not very frequent, according to them.

Pictures of EBF General Assembly in March 2003, Berlin

Pictures of EBF General Meeting in June 2003, St Petersburg

	EBF held its General Meeting in St Petersburg on Friday 7th June. On the 8th and 9th June 2002, for the first time ever, the European Booksellers Federation and the International Booksellers Federation held their joint annual congress in St Petersburg, Russia. The conference was organised in collaboration with the Book Distributors of Independent States. The congress, which is traditionally the most important yearly get together of booksellers in the world, had an high level professional programme including themes like "the changes in the book trade and how to cope with them" and "survival strategies for independent bookstores", "the globalisation of the book market". In addition to the official programme, the participants had the opportunity to visit bookshops and experience Russian culture and the White Nights of St Petersburg. Learn more in the press release of the conference.