This year, the library sessions will focus on plans for the Cyprus Library, on ebook lending by Cypriot libraries, on the role of libraries in research and scholarly communication, as well as on best practices in library advocacy. In the publishing and bookselling sessions, the professional programme of the Limassol International Book Fair continues to contribute to capacity building in the Cypriot book sector and to its international networking, with two special focus events and one seminar. Thus, we present our first focus on children’s publishing in international book markets, France, Greece, and Cyprus. In the ΑΙ focus , we zero in on the responsible and productive use of artificial intelligence in book publishing, with keynote speaker Sara Lloyd of the Pan Macmillan publishing group. We organize a seminar on translation at the intersection of cultural exchange, publishing strategies, rights trading, and artificial intelligence. This seminar includes talks, a workshop, a roundtable discussion, and networking opportunities, and represents our first activity within the European project ThinkPub, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme. Finally, we showcase publishing initiatives from the Eastern Mediterranean and explore Cyprus’s prospects as a hub connecting the publishing scene of the wider region with Europe.

/ Beyond the Fair’s partnerships in the ThinkPub European project, its professional program is the result of ongoing collaboration with the Creative Europe Desk Cyprus (Organization for European Programmes and Cultural Relations – OEPCR), the Cyprus Association of Librarians and Information Scientists (CALIS), the Library & Information Centre of the University of Nicosia, the Greek Collecting Society for Literary Works (OSDEL), and the Goethe Institut Cyprus. It also launches new collaborations with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Knowledge Rights 21, the Cyprus IBBY (Cyprus Association on Books for Young People ), the Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology, Invest Cyprus, the Center for Social Innovation (CSI), the Alliance Française de Limassol, the Embassy of Italy in Cyprus, and the Egyptian Publishers Association.

The professional program of the 4th Limassol International Book Fair welcomes 36 speakers and panel participants from Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, and the United Kingdom.

In the library sessions, this year’s speakers include Stephen Wyber, representing IFLA; Giannis Tsakonas, Director of the University of Patras Library and Vice President of the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER); librarian Giorgos Glossiotis (Knowledge Rights 21); and George Andrew Zannos, Director of OSDEL.

In the publishing and bookselling sessions, speakers include Sara Lloyd, Global AI Lead at Pan Macmillan; translator and cultural manager Alexandra Büchler (Literature Across Frontiers, ENLIT); Hanife İçten, responsible for Cyprus and Greece on behalf of the Frankfurt Book Fair; Hélène Pasquet of the French Bayard group and Vice President of the Children’s Book Group of the French Publishers Association (SNE); Egyptian publisher Ahmed Rashad (Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah); Lebanese publisher Lina Chebaro (Arab Scientific Publishers); international agent Mauro Spagnol (Books Everywhere); publisher Eleni Papageorgiou (Metaichmio Publications); publisher Nikos Nikas (Nikas Books); and author and educator Elena Perikleous, Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Republic of Cyprus; as well as Dimitris Skouredis, Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology; Marios Tannousis, CEO of Invest Cyprus; and Dimitris Chatzisofoklis, CEO of the Center for Social Innovation (CSI).