Six Indian booksellers have launched Independent Bookshops Association of India, with the aim to bring independent bookstores across the country together, "forging partnerships within and outside the publishing industry, and advocating for rights," PrintWeek reported.
IBAI's founders include Diviya Kapur of Literati Bookshop & Cafe, Goa; Raman Shresta of Rachna Books, Gangtok; Leonard and Queenie Fernandes of the Dogears Bookshop, Goa; Neha Tiwari and Vishal Pipraiya of Pagdandi Bookstore Cafe, Pune; Aman and Mayura Misra of Storyteller Bookstore, Kolkata; and Ahalya and Meethil Momaya of Trilogy Library & Bookstore, Mumbai.
"Earlier this year, when a few of us got together to discuss the need for our country's independent bookshops to come together and set up a united front, we were eager to get started immediately," said Fernandes. "We set up conference calls, e-mailed drafts of objectives and rules, and designed logos, but our plans to meet up and formalize the structure of the organization has gotten delayed, understandably, by the Covid-19 pandemic."
It was the pandemic, however, that showed the booksellers why there is a need to come together and pool their knowledge, voices and support for each other.
"During the lockdown, with our beloved bookshops closed, we have had more time to understand the range of concerns that affect independent bookshops, what our common needs are and how we can help each other," Fernandes added. "We have been assessing our readiness to deal with the new normal, sharing book recommendations with each other, and our best practices, so when we restart it is with renewed vigor and most importantly, with friends. We have already started helping each other out by fulfilling orders for each other."
The IBAI is now inviting the country's independently owned bookshops to join them "so we can combine our strengths and our love for what we do best, find ever-loving homes for the best books. Over the next few days, we hope that this call is responded to by our fellow booksellers and we hope that readers join us by supporting our venture and seek us out, via our membership directory, so that we can serve more readers."
Shresta told Scroll.in: "The associations abroad, especially in the west, are doing a great job as a collective, looking out for the welfare of the members. While the issues we face in India are so much more rudimentary, there is great inspiration to take from how they have functioned to make all sections of the publishing industry work more ethically and cohesively."