Following last year’s success, the second edition of RISE Bookselling, the conference dedicated to innovation and the resilience of the bookselling sector in Europe, will be held at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon on March 17 and 18. The event is organized by the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), an international organization that brings together trade associations from different countries and represents more than 25 thousand booksellers worldwide.

Two days of meetings and panel discussions that aim to provide new skills to the booksellers and agents who will attend the event, sharing an overview of the changes taking place in the publishing world in order to be able to cope with them in the best possible way in the book distribution and sales sector as well. Among the topics that will be covered, an important focus will have accessibility, with a focus on the legislative context on the subject: this is an important signal, since for the first time at the European level even the bookselling sector is giving relevance to the issue of accessibility and the repercussions that the European Accessibility Act will have in the coming years on all the links in the supply chain.

Agenda

Taking part in the packed program of meetings will be authors, experts and professionals from the bookselling and publishing sectors who will discuss various topics including: innovation, publishing for children and young people, bibliodiversity, sustainability, and the use of new technologies to improve the bookstore experience.

Among the international experts who will take part in the discussion, Fondazione LIA has also been invited to participate by bringing its own contribution on the topic of accessibility.

Cristina Mussinelli, Secretary General of LIA, will participate in the conference Accessibility 101: what booksellers have to know on March 18(2 p.m.). Participating in the panel discussion will also be Sarah Lübbers (bookseller owner of the German inclusive bookstore “Magic Book”) and Kristina Kramer (Deputy Director of Börsenverein’s taskforce dedicated to accessibility).

How accessibility will impact the bookstore industry

The aim of the meeting is to inform and introduce participants to the changes that are taking place in the current years from a regulatory perspective and in particular those that will affect European publishing with the entry into force of the European Accessibility Act in June 2025. Although, in fact, the Act impacts the world of publishers much more significantly, the bookselling sector must also pay attention to certain points, particularly if establishments and chains that own an ecommerce must ensure its accessibility and, if they also sell ebooks among their products, they must make sure that the accessibility metadata of each catalog title is displayed.