WORLD BOOK DAY – AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS ANDBOOKSELLERS CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTEmbargo: 23 April 2020

We, the undersigned representatives of the global book industry urge governments all over the world
to recognize, support and celebrate the importance of books, learning solutions, and professional andscholarly content by adopting economic stimulus packages to sustain their respective publishingsectors and the value chains that surround them.
Today, on 2020 World Book Day, we acknowledge the vital role that books play in society. Throughbooks we learn, we meet other cultures, we dream. We understand each other. Through books welearn how to empathize. Books are necessary for scientific research, to educate our children and inlifelong learning. Books help us become better human beings.
Books need authors to write and illustrate them, publishers to invest in them, booksellers to get themto readers, and collective management organizations to protect their copyright. This chain, so vital tosociety, is under imminent threat.
In this time of social distancing, the importance of books has been re-emphasized. Staying at homeand reading a book is a way of caring for others. Newspapers and blogs around the world have put
together lists of books to read while you are in isolation, whether that be to escape or to understandwhat is happening. Books are what people turn to in difficult times.
Parents in many countries have had to become educators. Teachers have needed to find new ways ofbringing their lessons to pupils. Authors and publishers around the world have responded by licensing
their content and digital services. Online book readings like ‘Read The World’ have exploded online,with publishers and authors quick to give parents support. The world is relying on research publishedin specialist journals to guide its health policies and develop a vaccine. Journal publishers’ investmentsin the verification of research and its wide communication are crucial here. And they have steppedup, voluntarily making research related to COVID-19 freely available and amenable to reuse.
Whether we are talking about books for a general audience, children’s books, educational resources,
or scientific research, authors, publishers, distributors, booksellers and collective management
organisations have reacted quickly to adapt where necessary and play a responsible role in society.
The COVID-19 virus is having a disastrous effect on people everywhere. Economies are shutting down
and nobody knows for sure when we’ll return to normal, or even if that’s possible. The impact on theworld’s creative industries, including the book sector, has been devastating.
In many countries, our industry is already struggling for oxygen. We must find ways to ensure thefuture for authors, publishers, editors, designers, distributors, booksellers and those who work incollective management, so that the book industry can bounce back once this pandemic is conquered.
A world without new books would be a sad and impoverished place. We are working hard to comethrough this crisis, but we need help to survive. We need governments to help us get through it
together.

Jean-Luc Treutenaere
Co-President
EIBF

John Degen
Chair
IAF

Yngve Slettholm
President
IFRRO

Hugo Setzer
President
IPA

Ian MossCEOSTM