International Book Fairs in Spanish and Latin American Studies

Melissa Gasparotto

RU Librarian for African and Latin American Studies, Spanish and Portuguese

SAPAC Brown-Bag Presentation

November 4, 2009

1

Why is It Still Important to Acquire Materials at Book Fairs?*

• To familiarize yourself with the area publishing trade.

• To save money/expand your purchase power.

• To locate materials not available for purchase.

• To acquire hard-to-find books not available in vendor catalogs.

• To share information with colleagues.

• To develop relationships with publishers/vendors

• *From Alonso-Regalado, Jesus. “Enriching Collections with Limited funds: Getting the Most out of Book Fair Acquisitions and Cooperative Projects.” SALALM Annual Conference, 2009.

2

LIBER: Feria Internacional del Libro

• Annual. Location alternates between Madrid and Barcelona.

• Approx.12,000 attendees.• Covers publishing industry in Spain,

and that of a special guest country.• Educational only—no business is

conducted by librarians.• US librarians (approx 30-40)

sponsored by Spanish Trade Commission. Mostly librarians from large public library systems.

• Academic librarians are not usually selected for sponsorship more than a couple times, since we buy only single copies and typically purchase items for which profit margin is lower. Public librarians purchase larger quantities, multiple copies, etc. of higher-profit mass market books. 3

Inside LIBER

4

Inside LIBER

5

At the offices of the Revista de Libros, a book review modeled on the New York Review of Books

6

At the Biblioteca Nacional de España

7

FIL: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara

8

FIL: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, continued

• Largest Spanish-language book fair. Approx. 600 Publishers and 500,000 visitors

– List of events

– Floor plan

• Lasts a week

• Librarian lodging sponsored by the fair and $100 of airfare sponsored by ALA

• Purchases can be made (where possible, planning in advance pays off)

• Many small publishers participate, and the fair may be the only place to purchase titles printed in small quantities

• Books are sold at substantially lower prices than through vendors, and are sometimes available for free

• Shipping center at FIL allows librarians to send books back without paying for the additional luggage weight

9

Other Benefits of Participating in International Book Fairs

• Business contact information of librarian attendees is published in the fair’s directory. Those publishers with content of interest to you will make sure you get on their email lists. This saves librarians A LOT of time and effort.

• Fair organizers maintain a searchable database of participating publishers which includes their geographic and thematic areas of coverage. You can generate lists of, for example, every publisher issuing works of theater from the Dominican Republic, and make sure to visit their booths and/or schedule an appointment.

– Catálogo de Expositores 2009

• Fairs are an opportunity for faculty outreach. Ask in advance if there are particular publishers of interest to look into, etc. When you are done with the catalogs you’ve picked up, give them to faculty.

• One of the few ways to acquire materials from Cuba without a middle-man

10

Other Benefits of Participating, continued

Café in Librería Berkana

11

• Bookstore visits in the host country.

• Browsing and taking note of publisher, series, and pricing is a great way to make sure that library vendors are offering a fair price back home, and that they are doing an acceptable job covering the publishing market in that country.

• In other words, if you don’t have a good grasp of the international publishing market, you will get ripped off.

Other Benefits of Participating, continued

• It is impossible to emphasize enough the importance of meeting the people with whom you will be doing business.

• Establishing personal relationships is particularly important when you are arranging blanket and approval plans.

• Publishers want feedback from librarians about content, format, editorial process, physical book quality, etc. Attending fairs is the best way to provide that feedback.

• Attending international book fairs is fun!

12

¡Gracias!

13