This 16th to 17th June, we gathered together with 1,200 booksellers and book professionals in Strasbourg, France, for the French booksellers association, Syndicat de la librairie française (SLF) bi-annual conference, Les rencontres nationales de la librairie. As the 2024 World Book Capital, Strasbourg was an excellent host for this year's RNL edition.
Day 1
The conference kicked off with a presentation of SLF's Xerfi study on the economic situation of the bookselling sector in France. The study painted a difficult picture for the French book sector. Despite 142 new bookshops opening in 2023, low margins and a decrease in the volume of sales, together with an increase in costs due to the energy crisis pose huge challenges for the years to come.
We then enjoyed an eye-opening presentation on what reading does to your brain by Michel Desmurget, Phd in neuroscience. Desmurget shared with us the disconcerting, but perhaps not too surprising, fact that the average children’s book contains a more diverse language and uses a more diverse range of words than the speech that is usually used during regular TV broadcasts.
We ended the day with the French trade press Livres Hebdo’s Grand prix of bookselling award ceremony.
..and then finally the booksellers could show their moves on the dancefloor!
Day 2
The second day greeted some sleepy booksellers with feet tired from dancing with a thought-provoking presentation on AI & the future of bookselling. Researcher André Ourednik outlined the added value bookshops bring if they choose to opt-out of AI tools and emphasise the human aspect of their service - or to create their own data models if they choose to opt-in and make use of AI.
Later, Pauline Harris from Warwick Books, UK, one of the 9 booksellers we brought to the RNL through our RISE Bookselling programme, explained to an audience of French booksellers the realities of being an independent bookseller in the UK. The panel was also joined by Monica Cabello from the Spanish Booksellers Association, CEGAL, and moderated by Isabelle Lemarchand, president of the International Association of Francophone Booksellers (AILF).
In a panel on diversity and inclusion, another of our RISE booksellers, Rosa Azevedo, owner of Livraria Snob in Lisbon, Portugal shared her views on how bookshops can foster inclusivity by understanding and engaging with their communities.
We enjoyed 2 full days of inspiring and challenging presentations and panels on the economic state of the bookselling sector in France, declining reading skills amongst children, the role of AI in bookselling, freedom of expression and many more topics.
EIBF, and the 9 international booksellers we brought with us through our RISE Bookselling programme, left Strasbourg with heads full of ideas and warm hearts from all the bookish encounters. Thank you SLF for an inspiring couple of days and à la prochaine!
