FILDAK: the State wants to strengthen the role of book professionals

The 18th edition of the International Book and Teaching Materials Fair (FILDAK) starts this Thursday, October 15 at the International Foreign Trade Center of Senegal (CICES), in Dakar, after eight years of interruption. This relaunch edition is part of a desire to strengthen the involvement of professionals in the organization of the show and the development of the book industry.

In an interview with the Senegalese Press Agency (APS), the Director of Books and Reading Promotion, Ibrahima Lo, stressed the need to have more confidence in professionals in the book chain to allow them to fully assume their responsibilities in the organization of FILDAK.

“There come times when the state must stop getting involved itself. We must trust the communities, the umbrella organizations and give them the opportunity to assume their role and their mission,” he declared.

This orientation is among the main recommendations resulting from a reflection workshop organized in 2023 by the Directorate of Books and the Promotion of Reading, with the participation of actors in the book chain and Moroccan partners. The discussions focused in particular on the prospects for the revival of FILDAK and the means of strengthening its foothold in the professional sector.

According to Ibrahima Lo, three major axes have been retained for the future of the show. The first concerns the preservation of its identity, based on the quality of national, African and its diaspora literary production. Dakar, according to him, aims to remain an important meeting place for writers and those involved in literary creation.

The second axis concerns the strengthening of links between publishing and distribution, as well as a better connection with literary events in the sub-region, in particular the Abidjan Book Fair, the Bamako literary re-entry and the 72 Hours of the Book in Conakry.

The third axis concerns the appropriation of FILDAK by professionals. With this in mind, a ministerial decree taken in 2021 appointed the publisher Abdoulaye Fodé Dione, also president of the Association of Writers of Senegal, to the position of general commissioner responsible in particular for the administration of the fairs and the edition of this year’s FILDAK.

The last edition of FILDAK dates back to 2018. The one planned for 2020 could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, during this period, the State organized three editions of the National Book Fair, in Saint-Louis in 2018, in Dakar in 2021 and in Fatick in 2024.

Furthermore, the Director of Books and Reading Promotion insisted on the need to favor complementarity between the different literary initiatives. He notably cited the literary symposium organized by Promotion du livre et de la lecture (PLL), scheduled for October 17 and 18 at the Blaise Senghor Cultural Center, in Dakar, with the financial support of the Directorate of Books and the Promotion of Reading.

For Ibrahima Lo, these initiatives contribute to the dynamism of the literary ecosystem and must contribute, each in its own way, to promoting creation and reading. He also recalled that youth remain at the center of public policies regarding books and reading.