IBSC highlights 'identity creation' as a key for bookstores

• Published date: 18 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

The second and concluding day of the debut edition of the world's first International Booksellers Conference (IBSC) organised in Sharjah, opened with the inspiring story of Nadia Wassef, a brave and passionate bookseller from Cairo, Egypt.

During a keynote speech at the event organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) on the side-lines of the ongoing 13th Sharjah Children's Reading Festival (SCRF), the owner and co-founder of Diwan, a pioneering chain of modern bookstores in Egypt, Wassef told the 385 booksellers and publishing professionals in the audience that the main reason behind the success of Diwan is because the bookstore was raised and developed like a living entity with a unique identity and personality of its own.

"We had guts, dreams, and our mother's prayers, but what we did not have was a warehouse, inventory or a business plan," Wassef said remising the unconventional beginnings of Diwan with her sister and a dear friend.

A bookstore with a café at its heart on the banks of the Nile River, Diwan with books in Arabic, English, German and French, grew fast, opening 10 outlets across Cairo run by a strong workforce of 150 employees. "We were a commercial space where we didn't practice commerce," Wassef noted, narrating how Diwan survived the global pandemic.

"While determination, experimentation and resilience helped us, what was critical to our survival was the unique identity Diwan had created in its 20 years of existence," Nadia noted, strongly emphasising to the audience that "as booksellers, we need to know who we are and what we stand for because if no one knows who you are and what you represent, then you will not be able to capture the customer's attention."

How can booksellers build solid partnerships with publishers, authors, festivals and schools? Continuing with its overarching theme of exploring ways to better streamline industry efforts to advance the book business ecosystem regionally and globally, one of Day Two's discussions witnessed a diversity of publishing ecosystem players from India, Nigeria and Georgia sharing insights in how they support booksellers.

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