 |
One of the most important projects that will take place within the programme LWBC 2010 is the project Books for Everybody. With this project the World Book Capital seeks to draw attention to the problem of the accessibility of books, as in Slovenia 2-3 books are purchased annually per capita. For literature, the average annual edition size is 1360 copies, while editions of the most demanding literature, both original and in translation, do not even exceed an average of 600 copies. The level of development of the book retailing network is another major problem of the Slovene book market. There are in fact fewer than 80 bookshops in Slovenia that carry a more or less current and comprehensive offer of book production.
How, then, can this situation be changed? How can book sales be increased, and how can quality literature be printed and sold in greater quantities? Can we hope that Slovene authors, too, will achieve high sales?
An attempt to respond to this problem is the project Books for Everyone.
|
| On the stand will be up to 23 April 2011, all books. |
In the public appeal for the selection of projects for the preparation and execution of the Ljubljana – the World Book Capital City 2010 programme, the Municipality of Ljubljana and the Slovenian Book Agency supported the publication of 21 books, which will be issued in editions of 8,000 copies and will be on sale for €3.00 per copy. |
In view of the fact that the average edition of books published in Slovenia is around 1300 copies, the size of the edition of the books in the project Books for Everyone is, for Slovene conditions, extremely large.
The books cover a range of literary genres, including both Slovenian and high quality foreign authors. Within the framework of Ljubljana – the World Book Capital particular emphasis will be placed on the authors Boris Pahor, Slavoj Žižek and Svetlana Makarovič. There is no doubt that the books are of interest to a broad range of readers. By making them widely available and with the promotion of the authors, many of whom will visit Ljubljana in May within the framework of the Fabula Festival, as well as with a well developed sales network and an attractive price, the books will be very accessible to readers.
A special feature of the project Books for Everyone, emphasising its experimental nature, is the fact that the books will be on sale in bookshops, general libraries, museums and other cultural institutions throughout Slovenia, thus ensuring the availability of these books in the entire territory of Slovenia as well as on the other side of the border. The project will therefore create a new sales network that will, to the greatest extent possible, cover the entire region of Slovenia and the neighbouring border regions, that is, the entire Slovene speaking territory.
In order to achieve this goal we have linked up with the Slovenian Booksellers Association and the Ljubljana Metropolitan Library, who from the very beginning participated in the preparation of the successful candidacy for the UNESCO title, and cooperated in the execution of the project Books for Everyone. The Slovenian Booksellers Association will coordinate sales of the books in bookshops, while the Ljubljana Metropolitan Library will take care of sales in Slovene general libraries. The sales of the books in museums will be coordinated by the Slovene committee of the International Council of Museums.
We are well aware that the primary sales point for books is, of course, bookshops, but the fact is that there are too few bookshops in Slovenia. The demographic image of Slovenia is one of the reasons why there are large areas where bookshops that would fulfil the criteria that we have established - that their offer includes at least a thousand titles and the production of at least 12 publishers – simply do not exist. On the other hand, the network of general libraries is much more widespread, with a total of more than 270 branches.
The project has been joined by 78 bookshops, 111 libraries and 27 museums and other cultural institutions, a list that we anticipate will grow further. The books will be sold under the same conditions and in the same way at all of the sales points, displayed on stands produced especially for the project.
During the period from 23 April 2010 to 23 April 2011, it will thus be possible to buy quality books for all age groups of readers at 216 sales points throughout Slovenia. The books will be issued gradually throughout the year, with the greatest number (17) being made available in April and May 2010.
