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Since 2010, the International Bibliodiversity Day (B Day) is celebrated on 21 September (Spring Day in the Southern hemisphere) by independent publishers. On the programme this year:

• in Spain, in Tenerife, the African Book Fair 2011, taking place from 21 to 25 September 2011, will host the publisher members of the Alliance at round tables and meetings, and will provide a platform for the Alliance to officially launch B Day (see programme below);
• in France, a workshop on bibliodiversity will bring together some representatives of the book industry’s professional associations (booksellers, librarians, publishers);
• in Latin America, national publishers collectives are mobilising and will be facilitating numerous activities, read the blog at eldiab.org;
• consult the Wikipedia article on “bibliodiversity”, available in Portuguese, Spanish, French and English;
• in Australia, the artist Judy Horacek draws bibliodiversity;
• in Turkey, the painter Emine Bora illustrates biblodiversity;
• in India, the artist Alpana Khare represents bibliodiversity;
• in South Africa, bibliodiversity is interpreted by a designer - see the illustrations below!

And what’s happening in your part of the world? Tell us about your activities!

Watch the B Day 2011 video!

Through its partnership with the Prince Claus Foundation, the Alliance gathers Persian-language publishers of the diaspora (Germany, Denmark, United States, France, Netherlands and Sweden) for an unprecedented meeting in Paris, from 22 to 24 June 2011. We hope this meeting would allow publishers to create both humane and professional bonds, ease the way to develop projects collectively and finally to reunite.

The report of this meeting is available in English and Persian. Please, write us to receive a copy.

The International Committee of Independent publishers (ICIP) will gather in Paris from 19 to 22 June 2011 for the annual meeting with the Board of Alliance. This year the ICIP will participate in the General Assembly of the Alliance on 20 June, and will meet with the Persian-language publishers of the diaspora, who gather in Paris from 22 to 24 June 2011 (see the program above).

The ICIP members present in Paris:

• Nouri ABID (éditions Med Ali, Tunisia), Coordinator of the Arabic-language network;
• Serge D. KOUAM (Presses universitaires d’Afrique, Cameroon), Coordinator of the French-language network;
• Araken GOMES RIBEIRO (Contra Capa, Brazil), Coordinator of the Portuguese-language network;
• Guido INDIJ (la marca editora, Argentina) - Coordinator of the Spanish-language network;
• Ritu MENON (Women Unlimited, India) - representative of English-language network.

The report of the meeting of ICIP is available from the Alliance team.

The ICIP includes the coordinators of the Alliance’s language networks; they are nominated by the members of the networks. Since 2011, the ICIP has been an essential part of governing the Alliance, representing the voice of the publishers. The ICIP meets once a year in the presence of the Board and the team of the Alliance. The agenda is based on the aspirations and objectives of the Alliance, considering above all the needs and expectations of the members.

Composition of the ICIP:

• Coordinator of the Arabic-language network: Samar Haddad, Syria (Atlas Publishing)

• Coordinators of the English-language network: Ronny Agustinus, Indonesia (Marjin Kiri) and Colleen Higgs, South Africa (Modjaji Books)

• Coordinators of the French-language network: Yasmin Issaka-Coubageat, Togo (Graines de Pensées); Dieulermesson Petit Frère, Haiti (LEGS ÉDITION); Marie Michèle Razafintsalama, Madagascar (Jeunes malgaches) and Samia Zennadi, Algeria (APIC)

• Coordinator of the Persian-language network: Azadeh Parsapour, UK/Iran (Nogaam)

• Coordinators of the Portuguese-language network: Carla Oliveira, Portugal (Orfeu Negro) and Mariana Warth, Brazil (Pallas Editora)

• Coordinators of the Spanish-language network: Germán Gacio Baquiola, Ecuador (Editores independientes de Ecuador) and Francisca Muñoz Méndez, Chile (Editoriales de Chile)

15 publishers from 8 countries (Algeria, Argentina, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria) met in Tunis, from 12 to 15 May 2011, to discuss e-publishing. The meeting was organised by the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, with the support of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

The publishers who met in Tunis wished it to be known that these meetings took place in a peaceful and secure environment. The warm welcome we were given, despite the curfew then in place, enabled us to organise meetings of a high standard, from both a professional and a human perspective.

We wished to show our solidarity with our Tunisian partners in this way, by inviting associations, NGOs, organisations and institutions, tourists and the simply curious to rediscover Tunisia – a Tunisia where freedom is in the air.

Some 17 publishers from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Egypt but also from France, Côte d’Ivoire and Argentina will meet in Tunis from 12 to 14 May 2011 to discuss e-publishing in the Arab world. Further to the meetings organised in Ouagadougou in December 2010 in partnership with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the Alliance continues to debate on the opportunities of e-publishing for independent publishers and for bibliodiversity. Through the theoretical sessions and practical workshops, publishers will have a chance tackle and explore e-publishing issues in the Arab world, particularly given the topicality and the role – sometimes crucial – of the Internet and the new media in the Arab revolutions.

The study on e-publishing in developing countries, conducted by Octavio KULESZ and coordinated by the Alliance, enabled through the support of Prince Claus, will be presented on Thursday, 12 May 2011 at 4.00 pm at the Hotel Les Ambassadeurs (Tunis). This is an event not to be missed!

Rooted in African daily life, in the streets of Bamako and Conakry, in the fishing port of Cotonou, on Tunisian soil, or redolent of Afro-Brazilian heritage, the 281 tales, documentaries, albums and novels that make up the catalogue are just waiting to be discovered. Books by nine independent publishing houses from Africa (South Africa, Benin, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, the Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, Tunisia) and from Brazil are now available in France, Belgium and Switzerland ! If you would like to diversify your stock, read in Bambara, in Arabic, in English, in Portuguese, in Kinyarwanda, in Malagasy, in French, if you are simply looking for some escapism … the solution is here … just turn the pages !

The Alliance distributes all the books contained in the catalogue in France, Belgium and Switzerland. To order, go to page 83 of the catalogue.

The “Lectures d’Afrique(s)” catalogue was developped with the support of the Ile-de-France Region.

Rooted in African daily life, in the streets of Bamako and Conakry, in the fishing port of Cotonou, on Tunisian soil, or redolent of Afro-Brazilian heritage, the 281 tales, documentaries, albums and novels that make up the catalogue are just waiting to be discovered. Books by nine independent publishing houses from Africa (South Africa, Benin, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, the Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, Tunisia) and from Brazil are now available in France, Belgium and Switzerland!
If you would like to diversify your stock, read in Bambara, in Arabic, in English, in Portuguese, in Kinyarwanda, in Malagasy, in French, if you are simply looking for some escapism… the solution is here… just turn the pages !

The Alliance distributes all the books contained in the catalogue.

Download the catalogue here.

The “African readings” catalogue was created with the support of the Ile-de-France Region.

Ten independent publishers from ten countries will be present during the African Book Fair in Geneva from 29 April to 3 May 2011. They will participate in roundtables and workshops about digital publishing, children’s book publishing in Africa, publishing in national and local languages, etc.

This event has been initiated by the Alliance, in partnership with the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (Institut de la Francophonie Numérique) and the SDC - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

In line with decisions taken at the 2007 International Assembly on Independent Publishers in Paris, the language network Coordinators and the Board of the Alliance have been meeting on an annual basis since 2009 (please see our November 2009 Communiqué).

On 11 October 2010, the Coordinators and the Board of the Alliance met in Paris and decided jointly to create “The International Committee of Independent Publishers” (ICIP) [...].
Because the publisher members – Allies – are the primary players in the Alliance, the members of the ICIP and the Board of the Alliance are submitting the creation of the International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP) to your approval.

A thorough report by Luc Pinhas, in French

Why do books have such restricted circulation in the French-speaking world? Which way does the flow go and which are one-way streets? What current legislation encourages publishing and the marketing of works? Are public policies sufficient? What setbacks are encountered in the marketing of works? Luc Pinhas draws a comprehensive portrait of the state of publishing, including legislation, circulation, distribution and marketing of books in the French-speaking world. This dossier, featuring entries on many themes and geographic locations, provides a complete overview of local realities, illustrated with telling examples. After analysing measures that states, associations and syndicates of publishing and book-store professionals have implemented, the author puts forward some proposals to fuel a much-needed debate. To achieve this and to hear what the main players had to say, especially with regard to the South, a fruitful survey was conducted at the Ouagadougou book fair in November 2004, in partnership with the international Association of French-speaking Bookstore Managers (AILF) - [http://www.librairesfrancophones.org/]

Year of publication: 2005, 288 pages, 15 X 21 cm, ISBN: 978-2-9519747-1-X

African literature in French is today better represented and better known in Europe than in Africa, where its distribution remains hampered by many obstacles. However, there are solutions, which require the mobilisation of various stakeholders in the book industry. One solution is co-publishing, based on a joint trade agreement. The publication of “L’Ombre d’Imana” by Véronique TADJO, a groundbreaking example of pan-African co-publishing, proves that it is possible, through joint action, to create the conditions necessary for a (re)appropriation by Africa of its literature. To make this possible, the Alliance is appealing to everyone, authors, publishers and institutions alike, to join forces and promote the bibliodiversity at the heart of the francophone spirit. This appeal is endorsed by many authors and book industry professionals.

These 80 recommendations are built on the principles upheld in the 2014 International Declaration of independent publishers, an important document promoting bibliodiversity, signed on September 20^th 2014, by more than 400 independent publishers from 45 countries.

They raise the necessary prerequisites, divided by themes, for the development, maintenance and strengthening of bibliodiversity in concerned countries. Some recommendations are accompanied by tools and projects (existing or to be developed in the context of the 2015-2016 Alliance programme of activities), enabling a practical implementation of independent publishers’ proposals.

Contents of the 80 recommendations & tools in support of bibliodiversity:

* Public policies safeguarding bibliodiversity
* Proposals and actions supporting digital bibliodiversity
* The Amazon system, a threat to bibliodiversity?
* Essential measures for publishing in local and national languages
* Methods for rethinking book donations
* Proposals and actions to develop solidarity publishing partnerships
* Activities to strengthen diversity in youth publishing

For all book actors to take ownership of these recommendations and tools, we invite you to contact us with your comments, suggestions, ideas, and proposals that could enhance and strengthen this document.