International Assembly on Independent Publishing Paris, 1-4 July 2007
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Programme International Assembly on Independent Publishing Paris, 1-4 July 2007 2 Dear friends and participants, done everything to make your stay in Paris as The Alliance of Independent Publishers is pleasant as possible. celebrating its fifth year. Having started as a small group, our association is now 75 members The Assembly is also a good time to focus on a strong, with over 40 nationalities and a few challenges facing the world of growing number associations of independent publishing . We have entrusted a few keynote publishers who have all joined us together. speakers with addressing issues such as While the Alliance has clearly expanded, we have concentration in the publishing industry, endeavoured to maintain a human perspective circulation and distribution, relations with public within our network. authorities and digitalization at the welcome plenary meeting. Naturally, the speakers are not Five years after its creation and three and a half expected to cover these issues exhaustively; we years after our assembly in Dakar, the Alliance do hope, however, that their presentations will has organised a major international meeting sharpen our awareness of these issues bringing together all its members. We are throughout the assembly and help us to think delighted to welcome you to the International about ways the Alliance might contribute in its Assembly on Independent Publishing. own way. Goals of the International Assembly on During the linguistic network meetings, a Independent Publishing complete review will be made of all the initiatives the Alliance has or has not This is first of all an opportunity to meet, implemented, as well as what it could have done spend time with each other and to better, in terms of copublications, participation strengthen the human bonds that are dear to in book fairs, advocacy work and shared us and so important in taking joint action. The resources. Based on this review, we will be able resulting mutual understanding – putting a face to better define the Alliance's major priorities to a name has such far-reaching impact – is for the years ahead (2007-2009). The Assembly crucial to ensure that our projects run smoothly is also an opportunity for in-depth discussion on throughout the year. To be efficient, our the internal governance of the Alliance of independent publishers. Specifically, each network must remain a "human size". We have linguistic network will designate a coordinator 3 for the next three years. with special attention to what others have to say, taking care to avoid any possible Of course, although linguistic network meetings misunderstandings. have taken on a certain importance in our organisation, they alone are not enough; these Participants have been widely consulted prior to meetings should represent just one part of our the Assembly; thus, the Assembly agenda is a system. That is why we will make it possible for joint effort . All your comments – in the original publishers to also hold meetings focussing on language of expression – can be found in this joint projects. Part of the afternoon on Monday, programme on page 25. You expressed the 2 July, has thus been set aside for workshops , desire for workshops and more time for to be led by participants. linguistic network meetings, and we have taken that into account. Lastly, we will discuss a number of tangible proposals to promote bibliodiversity, keeping You also kindly contributed your thoughts on in line with the Convention on the Protection what the Alliance's major priorities should and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural be in the years ahead. The analysis of your Expressions, which came into effect on responses has resulted in a quite well-defined set 18 March 2007. These proposals will be of priorities. We invite you to review them published in three languages (French, English carefully before we meet (see page 49); this will and Spanish) and will be widely distributed to help us discuss and approve them (or not) more international organisations, governments and efficiently during the Assembly. book industry representatives alike. This collection of proposals is a long-term project: it The upcoming Assembly is necessarily part of a began in June 2007 and will continue after our long-term plan: it will help us define our modus July Assembly. operandi and priorities for the years ahead; it will Unit and diversity in working methods result in a number of decisions to be applied in the next three years; and it will assist in the Taking stock of past initiatives, defining our collection of tangible proposals to promote priorities for the years to come and developing bibliodiversity. None of this would be possible proposals for bibliodiversity naturally requires a without your active participation. Indeed, we are considerable amount of work before and continually striving to make your voice heard after the Assembly. Our work together is with every Alliance decision . It is in this way fundamentally intercultural and is carried out that we will succeed together, in a spirit of unity 4 that in no way denies our diversity. embassies (in Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mali, Morocco and Togo) have made it possible We would like to warmly thank our partners for many participants to come to Paris. Last but and sponsors who have trusted us and provided not least, we thank the Director-General of the resources needed to organise this Assembly: UNESCO and his organisation for their efforts Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation in preserving cultural diversity in general and (www.fph.ch), which has been with us for the bibliodiversity in particular. last five years as a faithful friend; the Ile-de- France Regional Council (www.iledefrance.fr), Welcome to the Assembly and thank you for for believing in the Alliance project; and the your involvement in the Alliance. various departments of the National French Library (www.bnf.fr), which has provided the For the Executive Board, Thierry best possible conditions for hosting our Quinqueton, President Assembly. The Latin Union (www.unilat.org), the Prince Claus Fund For the Executive Team, Etienne Galliand, (www.princeclausfund.org) and various French Director 5 6 Table of Contents Participants , page XX Agenda , page XX Your responses to our questions on the agenda , page XX Practical information , page XX Analysis of your comments on the Alliance's major priorities for 2007-2009 , page XX Directory of participants , page XX Partners , back cover 7 8 Agenda According to Alliance modus operandi , the agenda for the International Assembly on Independent Publishing was drawn up collectively. All participants' contributions are reproduced in this programme – see page 25 . Sunday 1 July 2007 Welcoming of participants at 8.30 am at the foot of the Tour des Lois (T2) at the François- Mitterrand site of the French National Library (BNF) . Morning / Plenary / 9.00 am – 2.00 pm / Tour des Lois, BNF Launch of the International Assembly – 9.00 - 11.00 am • Welcome! By the organisers of the Assembly and major partners • From Dakar (2003) to Paris (2007) : major accomplishments of the Alliance • 80 publishers and 40 nationalities : presentation of participants • 4 days to meet and work : goals, challenges and organisation of the International Assembly on Independent Publishing Coffee Break, 11.00 – 11.30 am 9 Major challenges facing independent publishers, Contributions by publishers and other experts - 11.30 am - 2.00 pm Moderator – Pablo Harari (Ediciones Trilce, Uruguay) • Independent publishing and concentration in the publishing industry – André Schiffrin (The New Press, USA) • The economy of bibliodiversity – Françoise Benhamou (economist, France) • Is uniting the best option for book distribution? by Ritu Menon (Women Unlimited, India) • Circulation and distribution of books – solidarity between publishers and bookshop owners – Agnès Adjaho (Head of the Association Internationale des Libraires Francophones , Benin) • What can new technologies do for bibliodiversity? – Paulo Slachevsky (Lom Editorial, Chile) and Joël Faucilhon (Lekti-ecriture.com) • Books: a public good? Publishing and the public authorities – Jean-Yves Mollier (university professor, France) 10 Afternoon / Tour (to be confirmed) / 4.00 pm / BNF The French National Library is spread over seven different sites each one having its specific features, collections and mission. Five of these branches are open to the public. The other two are designed for the conservation of collections. The François-Mitterrand site is an architectural wonder and also contains a major collection of works: 10,000,000 volumes, including 200,000 rare books and 700,000 volumes that are accessible to the public. In addition, 100,000 books have already been digitalized. A tour of the library is an opportunity for participants to familiarise themselves with this incredible resource. Tour in: French and English Afternoon / Administrative details / Hôtel Mercure Bercy The Alliance executive team will be available at the Hôtel Mercure Bercy all afternoon to answer your questions, especially with regard to the financial details of your visit. At that time, we will be collecting your contribution to expenses, as agreed prior to the Assembly. Evening / Welcome dinner for participants / 8.00 pm 11 Monday 2 July 2007 Morning / Linguistic network meetings / 9.30 am – 1.00 pm / Maison des associations de Solidarité Linguistic network meetings (French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic and English) will be led by a publisher who is a member of the Alliance. A secretary