Visiting tapatíos and publishing leaders of Valencia at the 525-year-old University of Valencia. Image: University of Guadalajara, FIL Guadalajara
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Direct Support to the Publishing Sector’
When the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara—the very popular Guadalajara International Book Fair—held its 38th doing in December, its guest of honor, as you’ll remember, was Spain.
And during the the fair—inevitably referred to locally as simply “the FIL”—made a commitment to provide financial assistance to the hard-hit publishing sector of Valencia, funds raised to help during the Guadalajara fair.
Last October, at least 232 people were estimated by authorities to have been killed when flash flooding hit the eastern Valencian region south of Barcelona. By November 7, the Associated Press’ Teresa Medrano and Joseph Wilson were reporting that “Spain’s Consortium for Insurance, a public-private entity that pays insurance claims for extreme risks like floods, said it had received 21,000 claims of home insurance, 12,000 for business properties, and 44,000 for motor vehicles for flood damage.” And those figures were expected to rise.
The meteorological phenomenon that hit the region is referred to as a “DANA,” for Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos, or an Isolated Depression at High Altitudes. More easily understood, the area had had record-high Mediterranean temperatures and then received around a year’s worth of rain in a very short time.
On Monday (February 3), Guadalajara made good on its pledge, and delivered to the Association of Publishers of the Valencian Country (AEPV) a donation of €75,000 (US$77,800 or 1.6 million pesos). The money is going to recovery efforts needed by publishers, bookstores, and libraries.
‘The Transformative Power of Books’
University of Guadalajara rector-general Ricardo Villanueva Lomelí and the president of the Association of Publishers of the Valencian Country, Àfrica Ramírez Olmos, mark the donation from the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara to the publishing industry of Valencia. Image: University of Guadalajara, FIL Guadalajara
The donation ceremony took place Monday at the University of Valencia and was attended by:
- Ricardo Villanueva Lomelí, rector-general of the University of Guadalajara, which is the producing body behind the Guadalajara International Book Fair
- María Vicenta Mestre Escrivá, rector of the University of Valencia
- Karla Alejandrina Planter Pérez, rector-elect of the UdeG
- Marisol Schulz Manaut, director-general of the Guadalajara International Book Fair
- María José Gálvez Salvador, director general of books, comics and reading of Spain’s ministry of culture
- Àfrica Ramírez Olmos, president of the Association of Publishers of the Valencian Country
During her participation, Marisol Schulz recalled that, since the Fair was founded in 1987, many publishers from Spain and practically all of its communities have been fundamental allies of this event.
Marisol Schulz Manaut
“At the Guadalajara International Book Fair,” she said, “we firmly believe in the transformative power of books and reading. In this case, with direct support to the publishing sector, we want to join in the reconstruction of cultural life in Valencia.”
After the donation ceremony, a delegation led by Ana Camarasa, professor of geography at the University of Valencia, visited the damaged areas to learn about the scale of the disaster and the reconstruction work. The extraordinary emergency response performed by the military was also explained, and there was discussion with representatives of community recovery projects, such as a rescue of personal photographs caught in the affected areas.
With this donation, both institutions, we’re told, have “reaffirmed their commitment to culture—and its agency in social change—in times of adversity.”
Next year’s Guadalajara International Book Fair is set for November 29 to December 7, with Barcelona as guest of honor.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Guadalajara International Book Fair is here, more on the Mexican publishing market is here, more on publishing issues in Latin America is here, more on international publishing and book awards is here, more on the Spanish publishing market is here, and more on world publishing’s trade shows and book fairs is here.