Between 23 and 24 March, the European and International Booksellers Federation team was proud to bring together around 300 booksellers from 31 countries for the 3rd edition of the RISE Bookselling Conference in Riga, Latvia.
The event consisted of two full days of insightful knowledge sharing, exchanging best practices in the industry and networking, and was preceded by the now customary RISE cultural and bookshop tour, introducing attendees to Latvia’s literary history, Riga’s main bookshops and their role in the country’s literary scene.
This year, the RISE conference was honoured to have Latvia’s Minister of Culture, Agnese Lāce, welcome attendees with an inspiring message about the country’s literary heritage, while mentioning the power books have in bringing people together. Agnese Lāce’s words “if a room full of booksellers is a nightmare for a dictator, it’s a dream for a minister for culture” serve as a powerful reminder of the value of bookshops in upholding democratic values and dialogue.
The conference featured dozens of panels, presentations, and workshops covering topics like team building, online branding, hybrid bookselling, and the role of bookshops in boosting literacy and democracy, with a whopping 71 panelists, speakers and keynotes!
With engaging discussions, insightful keynotes, practical workshops, and valuable networking opportunities for booksellers from every corner of the world, the conference was a great success. We are proud that the conference managed to bring together booksellers from far and wide and helped to build meaningful connections among them.
To close, EIBF Director Julie Belgrado announced that the next RISE Bookselling Conference in 2026 will lay its scene in Verona, Italy, setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Besides allowing participants to get acquainted with classics and local culture, the conference will be an opportunity to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Italian Booksellers Association, Associazione Librai Italiani (ALI).
After the end of another successful RISE conference, as booksellers departed, they left Riga and the RISE conference with fresh ideas, new connections, and renewed enthusiasm for their work. See you in Verona!
‘Resilience, Innovation and Sustainability for the Enhancement of Bookselling’, or RISE Bookselling in short, is a three-year, EU co-funded programme run by EIBF. Since its launch in early 2022, RISE Bookselling has been working to create a real network of international and European booksellers, bringing them closer together while upscaling their resilience by providing them with key tools and insights they can put into practice in their shop.
Under the RISE Bookselling project, and among other multiple activities, EIBF has organised the RISE Bookselling Conference, the first-ever European and international conference to put booksellers at center-stage, giving them an opportunity to have a dedicated space in which to discuss their craft with like-minded peers.