| Based on the positive experience of World Book and Copyright Day, launched in 1996, UNESCO initiated the concept of World Book Capital City and nominated Madrid as the Capital for Year 2001. Following this successful experience, the General Conference adopted, on 2 November 2001, the 31 C/Resolution 29, establishing the yearly nomination of the Book Capital City. The International Publishers Associations (IPA-UIE), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the International Booksellers Federation (IBF) are associated to this initiative and are therefore represented with UNESCO in the nominating committee, so as to guarantee appropriate representation from the international organisations representing the three major sectors of the book industry. An agreement was concluded among the partners that, after Madrid (2001), the subsequent capitals would be Alexandria in 2002 and New Delhi in 2003. Then, following public calls for candidatures, the Selection Committee gathered at UNESCO Headquarters and successively nominated the city of Antwerp (Belgium) World Book Capital City 2004, the city of Montreal (Canada) World Book Capital City 2005, Turin(Italy) World Book Capital City 2006, Bogota (Colombia) World Book Capital City 2007, Amsterdam (the Netherlands) World Book Capital City 2008, Beirut (Lebanon) Book Capital City 2009, Ljubljana World Book Capital City 2010 and Buenos Aires World Book Capital City 2011. The nomination does not imply any financial prize, but an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading. NOMINATION CRITERIA The candidate programmes, presented or endorsed by the major of the applicant city, shall be aimed at promoting books and fostering reading during the period between one World Book and Copyright Day and the next (23 April). The selection committee will examine the candidate programmes, making a special effort to involve all regions of the world in turn, in accordance with the following criteria: Submission of a programme including activities specifically conceived for the year in which the city would be the World Book Capital City, and which would only take place in case of nomination.Degree of the municipal, regional, national and international involvement and potential impact of the programmes.Quantity and quality of specific or ongoing activities organized by the candidate-city in cooperation with the national and international professional organizations representing writers, publishers, booksellers and librarians and in full respect of the various stakeholders of the book supply chain.Quantity and quality of any other noteworthy project promoting and fostering books and reading. Conformity to the principles of freedom of expression, freedom to publish and to disseminate information, stated by the UNESCO Constitution as well as by Articles 19 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials (Florence Agreement).
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Buenos Aires World Book Capital 2011
Buenos Aires was nominated as World Book Capital 2011 on the account of the consolidated strategy underpinning the programme, as well as of the quality and variety of its candidature file More |
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Ljubljana named “World Book Capital 2010”
Ljubljana was named as the “World Book Capital 2010” at the conclusion of the selection committee meeting which was held on 18 June at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters. The meeting brought together representatives of the three main professional associations in the book industry and UNESCO. More |
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Beirut « World Book Capital City 2009 »
Beirut is the ninth city designated as World Book Capital, following Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Anterp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007) and Amsterdam (2008). More |
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