Entertainment

New Toronto Book Fair could be lifeline for printed word

Rita Davies and John Calabro propose forum for book industry and book lovers alike

Rita Davies is one of the proponents of a new book fair for Toronto.

Aaron Harris For the Toronto Star

Rita Davies is one of the proponents of a new book fair for Toronto.

Prepare yourself for a new cultural attraction: an annual Toronto book fair.

Publishers, booksellers and authors could get a boost from a bold proposal that will be announced Thursday.

“This could be a big boon to the Canadian publishing industry, which is going through massive changes,” says Rita Davies, former executive director of culture for the city of Toronto, who prepared the report in collaboration with John Calabro of the Association for Art and Social Change.

The report says the Canadian book industry is in urgent need of help as it undergoes a tumultuous transition similar to what the music industry has experienced over the past decade.

The last BookExpo Canada, the forum at which publishers and booksellers in English Canada did business, took place in June 2008. And plans to replace it with a consumer-oriented book fair the next year were quickly abandoned.

Upshot: it has been five years since English Canada has had a book fair to serve as the market and meeting place for the publishing industry.

But the “reimagined Toronto book fair” proposed by Davies and Calabro would not be merely an inside-players industry event. Like Montreal’s French-language Salon du livre, the Toronto Book Fair of the future would run from Thursday through Sunday, with school programs on the Friday and the emphasis on public attendance on Saturday and Sunday.

The main part of the fair would take place in a large venue, likely the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, with fringe events at libraries, bookstores and non-traditional venues across the city.

The time of year for such a fair would be either May or November. I’d favour late fall, after such fall literary events as Word on the Street and the International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront Centre, but before snow and the pre-Christmas shopping peak.

Industry events would include professional development seminars, lectures and workshops plus many opportunities for networking and face-to-face “let’s make a deal” encounters.

Yet the most tantalizing prospect for most people would not be the gatherings designed for workers inside the book publishing trade, but the public component, which would draw book lovers who like to browse and talk about books, see them and feel them. It would be a celebration for people who explore possibilities and check them out rather than just go online to order them.

Such a fair would offer a wonderful substitution for the pleasure they used to have at the fast-disappearing local bookstore. And for publishers, this fair would provide not just a chance to hobnob with other insiders but direct contact with the book-buying public.

What makes Toronto the right place for such a fair? The GTA has a huge and diverse population. This is a city of avid readers. And it helps that Toronto has a strong film and TV industry as well as a formidable cluster of schools, colleges and universities.

The publishing industry, including participating booksellers, would come out as winners. Thousands of readers would have access to an enjoyable event.

Depending on which of three scenarios is selected, the annual budget would be between $1 million and $2 million. Attendance would range between 75,000 and 125,000. And economic impact would range between $23 million and $39 million per year.

But despite the huge potential upside, the Toronto Book Fair will need some key sponsors and donors, both private and public, to take a chance in order to become a reality. And in the current climate of extreme economic restraint, that is by no means a slam dunk.

Is Toronto ready to bet on this dream?

“We’ll need to talk to partners in government and the industry,” says Davies. “But I can tell you that I have never worked on a report that wound up sitting on the shelf.”

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