The National Book Council has released its first annual report since its formation by legal notice in 2001. For the first time, a comprehensive document has been compiled by the NBC to outline its work, plans, vision and financial standing in detail.

When I was told I would be appointed head of the NBC, I immediately dreamt of large-scale projects that could revive the declining popularity of books in Malta. Alas, back then, little did I know that I was entering an institution that had been repeatedly pushed to the side by successive governments, an institution lacking in every department, be it administrative or managerial.

To my dismay, no records of the NBC’s nominal accounts were kept. For over 10 years, money was being spent without it being properly accounted for and, for this simple reason, no real project planning could have ever been made. No wonder that, in early 2013, news emerged that the NBC administration at the time was considering doing away with the annual book fair because “money couldn’t be found”.

Under my chairmanship, things are taking a completely different turn. In less than a year, proper financial and management structures have been built and, thanks to this, the NBC can plan ahead concretely. As outlined in the annual report, the first step towards substantiating our vision is an altogether obvious one: to build the proper structures and tap into enough funds to transform the NBC into an effective institution that could play a key role in raising readership rates and increase the popularity of books.

Considering the small size of the local book market, we are fully aware of our limitations and constraints, especially since we are involved in one of the most difficult cultural and educational sectors. However, we are also bold enough to dream big and, in doing so, we are leaving no stone unturned.

We are tackling the problems we found in the book sector in a very careful manner, trying to address them in a holistic way with a more global mindset. High priority was given to saving the book fair, an event that was gradually losing its relevance and importance due to a myriad of factors.

Along the years, the book fair was gradually losing its cultural relevance and instead becoming simply a bazaar event. We addressed this problem by rebranding the book fair as a festival and, while conserving its commercial element, we have dressed it up with a long series of cultural and educational events in which schoolchildren could participate for the first time.

Also a first in many years is the introduction of international participation with the presence of a Parisian bookshop, thanks to the help of the French embassy. Moreover, we have also opened subsidies for NGOs in the sector and for cultural initiatives held at the Book Festival.

Tapping into foreign participation seems to be the hardest task of all. Foreign publishers and bookshops are not interested in the local market due to it being so small and, instead, they are focusing their energies on new emerging super economies such as China and Brazil.

Turning the National Book Festival into a prestigious and cultural event is part of our strategy to raise readership figures. This will not happen by simply spending money on a locker for books and placing it on a beach. True, the idea is novel but at the NBC we are prioritizing. Instead, we have initiated a venture to address serious deficiencies in public school libraries and intervene with targeted book donations to these libraries.

The abandoned state of public libraries is indeed tragic. Headmasters do not have enough funds at their disposal to address this problem and, in such a scenario, we feel obliged to intervene and address the problem in their stead.

Book donations are also being made to the Central Public Library. Purchases are made on a book-by- book basis to ensure that the best titles possible are acquired.

Readership among university students is also alarmingly low. It is for this reason that we collaborated with Għaqda tal-Malti (Università) on a Book Festival on Campus, featuring Maltese publishers and distributors.

The abandoned state of public libraries is indeed tragic

We are supporting publishers and authors with every means possible and legislation concerning books is on track with discussions and consultation meetings being held in the process.

Public lending rights will also be introduced, hopefully by the end of this year.

The NBC is drafting the administrative and legal set-up for this initiative while Malta Libraries is busily updating its computer software to be able to produce detailed statistical reports that will be used to allocate the money to authors under the PLR scheme. As soon as the software is installed, PLR can kick off instantly.

Previous initiatives are also being strengthened and any problems addressed. For example, regulations for the National Book Prize have finally been revised and proper adjudication criteria based on academic and professional standards have been introduced for the first time. Applications are now open and can be picked up from the Central Public Library or via e-mail at joe.debattista@gov.mt.

My fellow council members are very dedicated and, thankfully, I can boast of a team made up of different, well-experienced individ-uals with various skills.

Our task is very difficult but we won’t be discouraged, even by circumstances and events that do not depend on us. This is one long and bumpy road. However, it’s one we’re ever more willing to travel and make sacrifices along the way towards success.

Mark Camilleri is executive chairman of the National Book Council.