America Reads Spanish interviewed Don Antonio María Ávila, executive director of the Federation of Publishers' Guilds of Spain (Federación de Gremios de Editores de España, FGEE) about Liber 2015, recently held in Madrid.
1) ARS: LIBER 2015 came back to IFEMA this year. What improvements have been observed?
Liber has returned to the Instituciones Feriales (Fair Institutions) from which, in my opinion, we should have never been parted. There have been improvements in organization, it was perfectly organized, with a suitable localization, it has been much better marketed, and we have seen a change from exhibitors and visitors being treated with acrimony to seeing them treated cordially –hence the vast degree of satisfaction.
2) ARS: In regard to sales and retail, what is the general outcome of this year’s LIBER?
In retail, LIBER has grown in square meters over the 2013 and 2014 editions, and we are 200 square meters over 2012, a year where the crisis was deeply felt. In fact, if there had been guest countries like we had in 2012, we would have had 100 square meters more than in 2012.
In regard to sales, we can already see the impact LIBER has had at the Cámaras del Libro (Book Chambers) and their activities, and, in principle, most publishers have shown their satisfaction in that regard.
3) ARS: What about the Jornadas Profesionales (Professional Seminars) at LIBER would you highlight?
The fact that they had three perfectly well-conceived connecting threads; the high number of seminars planned; and the high number of attendees, even when there were five seminars being held at the same time.
4) ARS: What are the expectations about the possibility of a European legislation that effectively protects creation in Europe?
Unfortunately, those expectations are not high. The European Union has never protected creation effectively, and at this time we have a Commission that is politically weak and lacks a plan; we have not been able to achieve the necessary fiscal harmonization for a domestic market; and they have launched a united digital agenda project without any kind of preliminary studies or thinking, and of course, as usual, without any talk of taxation or harmonization of trade laws. A complete absurdity, in my opinion.
5) ARS: What is the project "Rodando Páginas"? (Rolling Pages)?
An experiment which will materialize in the next few LIBER events, for the integration of the worlds of audiovisual media and theatre in LIBER as a fair of conventional contents, where the digital revolution blurs the limits between sectors.
6) ARS: LIBER 2015 has been extended to the city for the first time through the LIBERATURA program, holding round tables in libraries at the center of Madrid so authors and readers can debate together about reading and the world of books. Have expectations been fulfilled?
This is not the first time that LIBER does extension to the city, but it is indeed the first time that it has been done in an organized fashion. This is not the program were happiest with. We have to insist more in improving communication. We should not forget, however, that the cities where LIBER is held, Madrid and Barcelona, are cities that normally hold an extremely high level of cultural activities, all year long; so visibility is a very hard thing to achieve there.
7) ARS: Would you like to send a message to international buyers, and, in particular, to the Misión Inversa (Trade Mission) of librarians and distributors in the United States that will read this interview?
All we ask of the American LIBER Trade Mission, for whom this year we have prepared additional activities before we start our collaboration with the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation, is that they stay faithful to LIBER, and that they increase their number of attendees, because, as the ones who come here know well, the wealth of Spanish publishing as a whole, in all its plurality, can only be really appreciated in LIBER, where new collections and publishing houses can be discovered every year.
