The event linked to small and medium-sized Italian publishing Più libri più liberi will change date starting from 2025. Let’s see together the reasons for this decision
More books freer will undergo a change of program from 2025: in three years, in fact, the festival dedicated to small and medium-sized publishing will no longer be organized in December, the period in which it has been held since its foundation in 2002. This was announced by L’Italian Publishers Association (AIE), founder and organizer of the festival. The reason for this change is due to a problem of scheduling: Più libri più libera takes place close to the period Christmasand for the capital’s booksellers this means lose a massive opportunity for possible sales.
More free books: a long-standing problem
The problem of scheduling Più libri più liberi did not appear this year: Roman booksellers had already requested the event be moved for some time; the reason for this request is due to the Christmas season during which the event is held, a period in which an independent bookstore manages to accumulate 30% of the annual turnover. Due to the event, visitors to the fair will inevitably tend to buy at the publisher’s stand rather than in bookstores, leading to a huge economic loss for these. The climax of the situation had already reached last year, when the Roman booksellers, under the representation of the association Booksellers of Rome (Ali-Confcommercio) they decided to to defect the event with the following motivation:
The validity of the event is not in question, only its dates; Rome is the only city in Italy, but perhaps also in Europe, where a publishing fair-market is held in the month of December… For survival, bookshops count on Christmas turnover which corresponds to around 30% of the annual turnover, but direct sales by publishers during the fair eat away at part of this turnover.
The decision, by the organizers of Più libri più liberi, to move the scheduling of the event came on Thursday 24 November, with the result of which the Rome booksellers association declares itself very satisfied. Ilaria Milanapresident of Ali Roma-Confcommercio, also stated that the association has proposed to anticipate the festival by a month, bringing it during the All Saints bridgeor postpone it in the period between January and February, indeed meager months of literary events. Despite the friction, Milana defines herself (together with the association) totally in favor of the initiative, supporting hers importance for small and medium-sized publishing. The president of ALI (Associazione Librari Italiani) also joined the discussion Paul Ambrosiniwho invited the parties involved to meet the institutions for a discussion aimed at devising concrete measures for the reading support and for a social consolidation of the role of bookshops, the only ones truly capable of offering the world of books a twelve-month showcase of visibility.
The 2022 edition
This year, however, Più Libri più libera will be held in December, precisely from 7 all’11at the convention center The cloud of the EUR. If you will be able to participate, there will be 500 exhibitors from all over Italy waiting for you, who will present their catalogs and new products to the public. More than 600 appointments are scheduled over these five days, in which you will have the opportunity to meet authors, attend readings and debates and explore important social and political issues.
Another important event for the literary panorama, this time held in Milan, is Bookcity, which this year achieved record visits!