Core members of the Belize Book Industry Association (BBIA) met in the lobby of the Bliss Institute for the Performing Arts on Thursday, November 20, 2008, with Ms. Nyasha Laing, a consultant at the Institute of Creative Arts, to discuss the way forward in the present dismal climate for book sellers, publishers, printers and writers here in Belize. The BBIA was formed last year to present a lobby to GoB for the relief of GST on the industry.
At its first meetings, the objectives of the organization were concluded, bylaws were explored, and a management committee, with Ms. Montserrat Casademunt of Cubola as interim president, was set up.
The BBIA was just on teething last year when the GoB initiated the Free Text Book Programme for Primary Schools, with the bulk of the books purchased from abroad. This was a crushing blow to the young industry which depends on the production and sales of textbooks for their bread and butter. Many book dealers were left holding the bag when books they had already ordered or published were not included in the government initiative.
It is in this bleak environment that the BBIA reconvened on Thursday to chart the way forward. The meeting decided to proceed posthaste in setting up the legal framework of the organization, to embark on a membership/publicity drive, and to seek an audience with the Minister/Ministry of Education to discuss their role in the industry.
Some aims of the BBIA are – to promote local culture and literature through the building of a national as well as international market for locally published books; increase awareness that reading and literacy go hand in hand in developing a nation’s human resources; and the adoption of a Book Law embodying all the necessary incentive measures for stakeholders such as authors, publishers, book traders, distributors, and librarians.
Present members of the BBIA include Cubola, Dakers Books and Stationery, The Book Shop, BRC, The Angelus Press, A&R, The National Library Service, and one Belizean writer. Membership in the BBIA is open to everyone involved in the book business in Belize.