Proprietor of the La Moixaranga bookshop in Paiporta for over 30 years, member of the Feria del Libro de Valencia (Valencia Book Fair) organisation for the last 20 editions, and President of  the Booksellers’ Association for the last decade, Gloria Mañas has dedicated her life to the promotion of books and the profession of bookseller. About to open the 41st edition of the La Feria del Libro de Valencia, Gloria  Mañas reflects on the Association of which she is president, and on the essential book world date in the Jardines de Viveros starting on April 23.

What is the Booksellers’ Association? It is a business organisation included in the PYMEV (Confederación Valenciana de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa), offering its members, small and medium enterprises, information and advice on grants, aid, plans, courses and other initiatives, as well as acting as a liaison with other sectors, such as associations of publishers, illustrators, libraries, writers, etc. The Association also belongs to the CEGAL, the Confederación Española de Gremios y Asociaciones de Libreros, that won the Premio Nacional de Fomento de la lectura in 2008 awarded by the Ministerio de Cultura. About a hundred bookshops, ranging from small village or neighbourhood businesses to large sellers, are members.
How is the 41st edition presenting itself in the Feria? Over the last three years, the Book Fair has taken place using some 60-80 small cabins in the Paseo Machado at the Jardines de Viveros, selected in the order of the application date. In the esplanade, the tent of the Editors’ Association and two others for activities and presentations can be found. The dynamic of the Book Fair  is nothing unusual. In the morning, there are activities for both infants and young people, mainly for schools; in the afternoons and weekends, presentations of new publications and book signings take place, as well as direct sales by the participant booksellers at a 10% discount during the Fair.  
The Fair in 2009 closed with very positive results. Last year the Book Fair got results that went beyond all expectations. Sales increased by 10% from 2008 which was also a good year. In 2009, the book sector in general increased its sales because reading habits are changing. The book has again become a basic element of leisure as it is an inexpensive and easily accessible form of entertainment.
How’s it going to be this year? As always, we are taken on the challenge of organising this year’s Book Fair with a lot of enthusiasm. We are confident that we will also get good results this year. It’s an established fair, with strong public participation and a highly appreciated complementary cultural component. Actually, besides the financial outcome, the success of the Fair is measured by the public’s participation. One of the most important aspects of the Book Fair is its role of invigorating culture.
Are there many activities to encourage reading habits? Every morning from Monday to Friday during the fair, we get school visits that participate in a variety of reading activities such as story telling, workshops, meetings with authors, etc. They’re the most important initiatives for reading in our community in order to create future readers. The Feria del Libro de Valencia is the second largest in Spain besides the one in Madrid, but, in terms of cultural activities, our Book Fair is probably the most important in the country, and no other similar event has such a variety of activities and initiatives directed at youngsters and children.
Do you have any other projects for the Book Fair in the future? In general, what we have is good, but we’d like to broaden the participation of those in the world of books. Apart from associations of editors and  illustrators, we’d like to have the direct collaboration of more publishers, writers, libraries... I wouldn’t mind organising a fair for both books and comics. And we’d like to have more institutional support.