PRESS RELEASES AND ARTICLES - Access to archives

June 2008

Booksellers on learning trip to the Netherlands

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. This statement is available from IBF website (http://www.ibf-booksellers.org)

For further information, contact: eurobooks@skynet.be

Click here to access the article (PDF format)

June 2007

Article translated from Livre Hebdo, about the presentation of EBF President, John Mc Namee, at the ALire/Dilicom conference in Paris
Click here to access the article.

December 2006

Brave New World: Digitisation of Content: The opportunities for booksellers by Tim Godfray, C.E.O. of the B.A. of the U.K. and Ireland.
Click here to access the PPT presentation.

The mobile digital Newspaper: Lessons learnt from the e-paper project and reflection on the book business by Nico Verplancke, Program Manager, Institute for Broadband Technology (IBBT), Belgium
Click here to access the PPT presentation.

November 2006

Historical Joint Statement between EBF, EWC (European Writers Congress) and FEP (Federation of European Publishers) on Digitisation.

October 2006

EBF Presentation at the hearing on content online, 11 October 2006, Brussels

September 2006

March 2006

BOOKSELLERS ONLY HAVE ONE YEAR AND A HALF TO REACT

EBF Secretariat took part, on March the 10th, in a symposium on digitization which took place in the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management school, Gent, Flanders: “Digitalisering. Een open Boek?” This meeting was organized by Boek.be, the Flemish House of the Book,
Although, the event was very successful with 75 participants attending the seminar, regrettably, only 2 booksellers could be spotted in the audience, which was mainly made of publishers and representatives of other organizations.

Jens Dustin Redmer, director of Google Book Search Europe, presented the Book Search project and the Google Library programme, already known to some of the participants.
Marius Snyders, from the Directorate- General Information Society and Media of the European Commission reported on the answers received by the Commission to the consultation on Digital libraries and the next steps, among them the creation of a European network of competence centres for digitization, the publication of a communication on scientific publications, and a recommendation by the end of 2006. He invited book trade representatives to raise their voices on the issue of digitization.

He was followed by Matthias Ulmer, publisher, (Verlag Eugen Ulmer ) who presented the Volltextsuche project, on behalf of the Boersenverein, a cooperative solution for an independent future in publishing in Germany.
Recent developments by Microsoft in the digitization field, mainly the launch of MSN Book Search and Microsoft’s association with the Open Content Alliance were explained by Wilfried Grommen, General Manager for the department of Business strategy, Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Last but not least, Tim Godfray, Chief Executive, Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland, gave his views on Digitisation. He raised the question of whether the book trade would survive the seismic shift digitisation of content is currently producing in book trade patterns. Addressing booksellers, he succinctly summarised the current situation thus: “we only have a year and a half to react”.

March 2006

EBF AND BA OF UK IRELAND SEMINAR AT THE LONDON BOOK FAIR 2006
DO NOT CUT OFF THE MIDDLE MAN

About 200 people attended the seminar “Lessons booksellers and publishers can learn about the digitisation of content in the music industry” at the London Book Fair, on Sunday 10 March 2006. This seminar was organised by EBF, in co-operation with the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Tim Renner, former Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Germany, explained that music publishers had been quicker than book publishers in digitising content because music is easy to digitise and consumers are younger. He said that the music industry had made several considerable mistakes towards digitization (the turnover of the music industry has decreased by 50 % in 7 years) that the book trade could still avoid.

One of the main points was “Don’t cut off the middleman! Publishers, as much as you love your product, your product doesn’t matter to the consumer, in the same way that record buyers aren’t bothered whether Madonna is on Warner or EMI. You need to help retailers develop sales of digital content on the net. It makes no sense to act alone”.

The consequence of not progressing fast enough in this way will be to lose sales through illegal sites offering a variety of publishers’ content.

Publishers should also pay increasing attention to peer recommendation sites such as myspace.com, he said. “Most acts have a page on myspace.com and it has been crucial in building up interest in big new bands like the Arctic Monkeys”.

Tim has published a book “Death Is Not So Bad: The Future of the Music Industry" [Cyan Communications] stating how the music industry can survive by devising new strategies.

February 2006

Source PN online

January 2006

December 2005

November 2005

Alistair Burtenshaw, Group Exhibition Director, London Book Fair says:
“I am delighted that London Book Fair and the European Booksellers Federation have been able to extend even further our relationship to create even more value for EBF members. We believe that London Book Fair in its new home, ExCeL London will prove to be even more beneficial than before for the many EBF members who visit LBF every year and look forward to welcoming them to London in the Spring”.

The members of EBF are the national Booksellers Associations from the 25 Member States of the European Union. Other national Booksellers Associations, from other European countries are Associate Members. EBF members represent most of the individual bookshops in Europe, more than 25,000 individual booksellers.

The London Book Fair has, over the last ten years, become the global publishing community’s leading Spring forum for UK and overseas booksellers. Offering a three-day concentrated trading and educational platform that gives access to the world’s books, real business contacts and shared knowledge, The London Book Fair is an ideal platform to discover how to compete effectively in today’s fast-paced retail market.

Bookseller benefits at London Book Fair 2006

• All members of the Booksellers Association (BA) and the European Booksellers Federation get the chance to pre-register free of charge and receive their entry badges before the doors have opened.
• BA and EBF members receive a voucher to collect a free fair catalogue, worth £20 (29,45 €).
• Booksellers who are not members of the BA or EBF trade associations get to pre-register for a discounted price of £10, half the usual pre-registration fee of £20 (29,45€).

NOTES TO EDITORS:

London Book Fair
The London Book Fair takes place from 5-7 March 2005 at Excel: London and is one of the world’s leading forums for the business of publishing. Committed to encouraging new talent within the industry, the annual three-day event attracts an international audience of booksellers, publishers, agents, authors, production professionals and journalists. The 2005 event saw an increase in overseas visitors of 16.8% and overall trade visitor attendance up 4.1%. The 2006 event will take place at ExCeL: London from 5-7 March. For further information on the event visit www.lbf-virtual.com
 

October 2005

EBF CELEBRATES THE 100th ISSUE OF ITS NEWSLETTER - PRESS RELEASE FROM EBF PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR

John Mc Namee, EBF President, was particularly pleased, on 25 October, to introduce the 100th issue of the EBF Newsletter: “The EBF Secretariat has been sending EBF newsletters to EBF Members and to the trade press every two weeks, or even more often, for the last four years. I know that EBF Newsletters are very appreciated in the book trade and this is proved by the fact that thanks to the magic of electronic communication they are informally disseminated to many other stakeholders than EBF Members… It is a recognition of EBF work and its capacity to identify relevant information. I wish that in the future more and more EBF Members will use the information to the benefit of their own Members and I would be very happy to hear that more of them summarize and translate EBF Newsletters into their own language. I am always very pleased when I hear that some EBF Members systematically put EBF Newsletters on their web site. At the level of the book trade as a whole, I am confident that in the future further and openly agreed exchanges of information with other stakeholders will be possible"

Fran Dubruille, EBF Director, commented:
"In fact this 100th issue is actually N° 102… I started with EBF in September 2001 at a time when four newsletters a year were produced. In October, Doris Stockmann strongly encouraged me to put together my first newsletter… On the one hand I had some solid experience of writing acquired in my previous jobs, and I was familiar with information searching methodologies, but on the other, I was completely new in the book trade…. It was quite a challenge.
By the end of 2001, I had announced that the format and the rhythm would change in 2002: newsletters would be shorter and more frequent … Well, they have not been shorter most of the time, but they are certainly more frequent and 2005 will be a record! 23 newsletters have been produced so far this year - a total of 119 pages-, including this double issue and 4 or 5 other newsletters will be written by the Christmas break. This means a total of 27 or 28 against 24 last year… A lot is happening at the moment in the book trade and we have to keep pace with it…
I am looking forward to introducing the 150th issue!!!"
 

October 2005

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
INAUGURATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
BOOKSELLERS CENTRE
WEDNESDAY 19 OCTOBER 2005 – 3pm

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
 

September 2005

1) World Book and copyright Day. IV Centenary of Quixote

“And you? What book would you recommend?”
The book sector joins forces in a campaign to promote reading

In 2005, the year of the IV centenary of Quixote and the world book and copyright day, And you? What book would you recommend?, is the campaign slogan–based on free postcard and a website, www.recomiendaunlibro.com, that allows people to send a recommendation of reading.

This is an initiative of CEGAL to promote reading, to which several organizations from the book sector have joined. The campaign is supported by Ministerio de Cultura (Dirección General del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas) and would be run during 2005.

2) The contest Reading Reporters of Club Kirico

The second edition of the contest Reading Reporters concluded successfully, both in terms of participants and quality of the works. The prizes were given in the town and bookshop chosen by each winner.

 

Sector’s current situation and key economic data

“Bookshops lose market share in the most profitable business lines”

At Madrid´s Book Fair, that took place in June, CEGAL has warned about the loss of market share in the most profitable business lines. This is the one of the main conclusions highlighted from the annual study about Statistical Index System and Bookshop Management in Spain.

The main conclusions are the followings:

• Bookshops tend to lose market share in the most profitable business lines.
• Books are an expensive product to sell due to the fact that it is necessary to employ a high level of staff to run a bookshop.
• The increase of department stores whilst medium and small sized bookshops are decreasing.
• In relation to this, school books are the product that showed the biggest decrease in sales.
• According to the study, the turnover of books is between two and four times less than in other sectors. Costly to maintain a diverse and quality range of books.

At the end of the Observatory presentation, the “MANIFESTO FOR THE BOOK, BOOKSHOPS AND A QUALITY EDUCATION WITH BOOKS READING” was signed by CEGAL (Spanish Confederation of guilds and Association of booksellers, FGEE (Spanish Federation of Publishing Guilds), FANDE (National Federation of distributors of publications), ANELE (National Association of class books publishers), ACE ( Writers Association ).

In a row, last July a meeting was held between CEGAL and the Ministry of Culture, Carmen Calvo, to expound the problems that the book sector is currently facing and request urgent measures to avoid an irreversible damage of the Spanish Bookshops. One of the measures that CEGAL immediately requests is the repeal of Royal Decree 6/2000, 23rd June, that allows unlimited discounts of primary and secondary school books.
 

April 2005

New Executive Committee of the European Booksellers Federation

The assembly unanimously elected a new Executive Committee for a new 3-year mandate.
The new Executive Committee is composed of:

John Mc Namee, President, bookseller in Ireland
Juancho Pons, Vice-President, bookseller in Spain
Olaf Winsløw, Treasurer, Director of Den Danske Boghandlerforening, Denmark
Ari Doeser, Director of the Nederlandse Boekverkopersbond, The Netherlands
Tim Godfray, C.E.O. of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland, U.K.
Iakovos Kokkalis, bookseller in Koridallos, Greece Lars-Erik Linder, Senior Advisor for Akademibokhandeln, Sweden
Dorotea Redeker, Managing Director of Retail Bookseller Committee, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V,Germany
Luc Tessens, Secretary of the Vlaamse Boekverkopersbond, Belgium

John Mc Namee opened its first bookshop in 1986 in Portlaoise in Ireland. He subsequently opened a branch in Newbridge and was elected the Irish bookseller of the year in 2000.  He is also a Member of the B.A. Council and a director of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland. 
In his opening address, John Mc Namee commented:

Juancho Pons, from Zaragoza, Spain, and third generation bookseller in his family, has been a member of the Executive Committee for 3 years and the Spanish Delegate for EBF and IBF for 5 years. He is also a Member of the Board of CEGAL, the Spanish B. A.
He worked as apprentice for Periodicals Servicer Company, in Germantown, NY, USA and since then, in 1994, has been working in the family business, an Academic Bookstore.

He said: “It is an honour and a big challenge at the same time and I am very happy to be able to work together with the new President   who is a very professional bookseller and a good friend and with EBF Director, Fran Dubruille, who helps us make all this work much easier.   The Executive Committee is very balanced with Booksellers and Directors of Booksellers Associations, representatives of the different systems in the European Book Trade and we will do our best to continue the excellent work that has been done in the past years. I am also very happy because my father was the Spanish Delegate for IBF about 20 years ago and it is also a great honour to follow in his steps"

"Booksellers will be facing many challenges in the coming years and EBF has an important role to play in these developments.  I hope that I can contribute to make Europe’s booksellers stronger and uphold their primary role in the distribution of books.  And that is why I am happy to be re-elected as a treasurer of EBF”

John Mc Namee, laoised@eircom.net
Juancho Pons, promedit@libreriapons-zaragoza.com
Olaf Winsløw, olaf@bogpost.dk
EBF Secretariat, eurobooks@skynet.be

Click here to access the press release in pdf format

February 2005

EBF Director, Françoise Dubruille, was interviewed by the Frankfurt Book Fair Newsletter