/ About the LIBF Conference 2026
/ Conference: Friday, November 20, 2026 | 09:00-20:30
/ Professional Programme & B2B Space: Saturday, November 21, 2026 | 11:00-16:00
The Old Carob Mill, Limassol
/ Topics: Libraries | Reading in the Digital Age | Emerging Technologies: AI, Ebooks, Audiobooks | Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation
/ Simultaneous interpretation: English Greek
/ Registration required. Free admission.
/ The Professional Programme as PDF (0,4 MB)
Organised by: Thinking & Limassol International Book Fair
The 5th Limassol International Book Fair (20–22 November 2026, Lanitis Carob Mills) once again hosts its international Professional Programme and Conference: a unique event for book professionals in Cyprus, offering two days of knowledge sharing, dialogue and networking with colleagues from Cyprus, Europe and the Arab world.
Alongside the exhibition stands and the cultural programme for the reading public, the Fair’s international Professional Programme begins on Friday, November 20, with the full-day Limassol International Book Fair Conference 2026. It continues on Saturday, November 21 with selected events for book professionals and the third edition of the B2B Space, a venue for formal and informal meetings with Conference speakers, invited organisations and more than 35 registered book professionals.
/ The Professional Programme explores key questions facing the book sector in Cyprus and internationally:
- How can we foster reading in the digital age?
- How is Artificial Intelligence changing libraries and publishing?
- What opportunities do ebooks and audiobooks offer?
- How can we strengthen cooperation between the book markets of Europe and the Mediterranean?
This year’s libraries sessions examine the challenges posed by the legal framework for intellectual property and the role of libraries in AI literacy. Through the European ThinkPub project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme, we are also organising two seminars, focusing on reading and emerging technologies. The seminar on reading in the digital age seeks a compass for reading culture and reading promotion today, exploring initiatives and policies from Cyprus and Europe through libraries, education, initiatives for children and bibliotherapy. The seminar on emerging technologies focuses on the tech publishers need now, examining international and national developments in AI, ebooks and audiobooks across publishing, the creative industries and content. Finally, the session on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation explores the creation of a publishing corridor connecting the European and Arab book markets through Cyprus.
Organised by the Limassol International Book Fair and Thinking, the Professional Programme continues to build on and expand its network of partnerships. It draws on collaboration with Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) of the European Commission, Creative Europe Desk Cyprus at the Organization for European Programmes and Cultural Relations (OEPCR), the Cyprus Association of Librarians and Information Scientists (CALIS), the University of Nicosia Library, Knowledge Rights 21, the Cyprus Association on Books for Young People (CYBBY), the Cypriot section of IBBY, and Invest Cyprus. Partners in individual events also include the Egyptian Publishers Association, Goethe-Institut Cyprus, the Embassy of Italy in Cyprus, the Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology, CARDET, the Greek Collecting Society for Literary Works (OSDEL), EBSCO, law firm Yiannos Georgiades Georgiades & Associates, Armida Books and the Cyprus Society of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (CSPP).
The Professional Programme of the 5th Limassol International Book Fair welcomes 46 speakersfrom Cyprus, Egypt, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Lebanon, Slovenia and Sweden.
/ The sessions on intellectual property and AI literacy in libraries feature keynote talks by Philippe Jougleux, Professor of Law at European University Cyprus, and Dr Charalambos Vrasidas, Executive Director of CARDET. Discussion participants include Nicodemos Damianou, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, and Fotini Tsiridou, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs.
Contributing to the discussions on reading are Professors Miha Kovač (University of Ljubljana) and Christoph Bläsi (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), reading policy specialist Luis González, authors Emilios Solomou and Fabio Stassi, journalist Manolis Pimplis, as well as Member of Parliament Andreas Apostolou and representatives of the Deputy Ministry of Culture, the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, CALIS, Cyprus IBBY and the Network for Children’s Rights.
The sessions on AI, ebooks and audiobooks bring together Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides, entrepreneurs Nadim Sadek (Shimmr AI), Andrey Mishenev (ABP Publishing, Booka) and Maria Lavithi (Heroes Made), audiobook expert Carlo Carrenho, ebook and accessibility expert Gautier Chomel (EDRLab), legal professionals Yiannos Georgiades (Kinisis Ventures) and George Andrew Zannos (OSDEL), Mary Panousi, representative of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation in Cyprus, and author Maria A. Ioannou.
Contributing to the discussions on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation features Marios Tannousis, CEO of Invest Cyprus, Egyptian digital content expert Ali Abdel-Moneim Ahmed (Arabookverse International), Lebanese publisher Nisreen Kreidieh (Dar Annahda Al Arabia), and Hanife İçten, responsible for Cyprus and Greece at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
/ The LIBF Conference 2026 appeals to: Publishers and book professionals · Booksellers · Book distributors · Authors · Librarians · Editors, graphic designers, and printers · Marketing professionals and digital agencies · University departments in related fields · Embassies and foreign cultural institutes · Government representatives.
During the sessions for publishing and bookselling, simultaneous interpretation from English to Greek and from Greek to English will be provided, unless otherwise specified.
/ Organisation and Curation
The Limassol International Book Fair Conference is organised by the Limassol International Book Fair and Thinking, a company with 15 years experience in providing services and solutions for the book and culture industry, and is curated by Michalis Kalamaras and Giorgos Papanagiotou.
