Since 2001 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has picked one city each year as the World Book Capital City.
UNESCO works with three major branches of the global book industry, the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Booksellers Federation (IBF) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), to determine the winners.
This year the winner is Beirut, Lebanon.
UNESCO has already chosen the World Book Capital for 2010. The winner is Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
Here is an excerpt from a letter from Zoran Jankovic, the mayor of Ljubljana, that accompanied the city’s winning submission:
In pursuing the general public interest…I seek to recognize the noble motivations of writers and authors …as well as the the motivations of all players in the publishing, bookselling, book promotion and library sectors to create preconditions for improving access to books and stimulating reading in all generations, providing them with more space for their work and development
Previous World Book City winners:
Madrid (2001)
Alexandria (2002)
New Delhi (2003)
Antwerp (2004)
Montreal (2005)
Turin (2006)
Bogotá (2007) and
Amsterdam (2008)
Image -Esquire Bookshop in Beirut via Robert Bound’s video news report, The Bookseller of Beirut, at Monocle
Related:
Recent story in the Lebanon’s The Daily Star Landmark Beirut bookstore giving way to high-rise