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| Patrick Schneebeli | |
At the European & International Booksellers Federation conference during Frankfurt last month, Patrick Schneebeli, president of the Swiss LIBER Association and head of sales and marketing for Scheidegger & Spiess and Park Books, outlined the LIBER project, which was created by Switzerland's main book industry associations in response to the Covid pandemic as a way to reinvigorate business for Swiss bookstores, publishers and authors after the lockdowns in 2020 were eased.
Hadi Barkat, founder and head of publisher Helvetiq, came up with the idea, whose core was a LIBER-Bon, "a currency" that could be used solely to buy books in-person in bookstores. The LIBER-Bons had a face value of CHF50 or CHF100 (since one Swiss franc is equal to one dollar, about $50 and $100 each) and could be purchased by readers for themselves or as gifts for CHF30 or CHF60--a 40% discount.
Five Swiss book organizations, reflecting the country's main official languages, became partners in the project--LivreSuisse, Schweizer Buchhandels- und Verlag-Verband, Swiss Independent Publishers, Associazione Librai ed Editori della Svizzera Italiana and A*DS, the Swiss authors group. Altogether the organizations represented more than 600 bookstores and publishers, as well as 1,000 authors.
The group raised CHF565,000 from a range of sources, including federal states, cities and towns, and public and private foundations, and the five associations contributed nearly CHF50,000. The money went to finance the value of the coupons as well as cover operating costs, which included the "bank notes," point-of-sale material, posters, bookmarks, social media, a website, and author remuneration for appearances at events supported by LIBER. Funds were also used to support directly authors and their publishers.
The campaign launched to the public near the end of October 2021. By the end of the four-week purchase period, some 14,100 LIBER notes had been sold for about CHF620,000 with a nominal value of CHF1,011,000, all in time for the holiday season. By February of this year, 25% of the notes had been used, and as of this past September half of the notes had been used.
The notes are valid for five years, and any unused money will go to support authors and their Swiss publishers and will not go back to the sponsoring associations.
In conclusion, Scheebeli called the program "a success, a lot of work, great fun," and an inspiration for future joint campaigns to promote books. --John Mutter