Senegal in West Africa will be the guest country at the “Riyadh International Book Fair 2010.” Libasse Gaye, a spokesman for the Senegalese Embassy said, “A 15-member Senegalese delegation led by Minister of Culture Serigne Mamadou Bousso Leye has already arrived in Riyadh to participate in the opening ceremony.”

He said that Senegalese publishers would display some 400 titles at the book fair.

“More than 650 publishing houses including book distributors, importers, exporters and retail booksellers from around the world will participate in the fair that will run through March 2 to March 11 this year,” said Abdullah Al-Jasser, undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture and Information. About 317 Saudi publishing houses will also feature their books and materials, Al-Jasser added.

Al-Jasser said that the fair, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information, seeks to promote an exchange of information and ideas among authors, publishers and book lovers. The event, which is likely to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors including students, teachers, researchers, writers and members of the general public, will also include a wide range of cultural activities.

A press statement said that the cultural program would include a session on the national dialogue and its role in boosting the concepts of moderation and tolerance.

Several sessions including seminars and talk shows will be organized on the sidelines during which major publishers, distributors and authors will speak about diverse topics of publishing and their experiences.

“This year, the book fair will witness the participation of publishing houses from a number of countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, other Arab countries, the US, Britain, France, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, India, Japan, Turkey and Iran,” said the press statement.

Several criteria were taken into consideration in accepting the participation of publishing houses from different countries. These include the number of publications, date of publications, subjects, specializations and the status of the publishing houses in the sector of publication and writing on regional and global levels.

The Publishers Association of the United Kingdom, the Association of American Publishers, and Al-Rushd Publishing Company from the Kingdom will participate in the fair as one group displaying their books and creative works. The Ministry of Culture and Information has also laid out clear-cut guidelines for selling books at the fair. The publishers will only be allowed to sell the books at discounted prices and the sales will be supervised by the fair organizers. 

They will not be allowed to sell any book or books that have not been given prior approval for display by the ministry at the fair. The publishers and distributors are also not allowed to sell books or materials in commercial quantities at the fair.