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A new "buddying" programme organised by The Reading Agency (TRA) as part of its Reading Partners scheme will see top librarians linking up with prominent publishers to increase understanding between the sectors.
Head of Newcastle Libraries Tony Durcan (pictured) will join up with Canongate publisher and m.d. Jamie Byng in the first such partnership, with other high-profile publishers also expressing interest in getting involved.
TRA director Miranda McKearney said: "It's an experimental development which is about rising to the challenge of integrating libraries into the rest of the book world. There are real difficulties in getting the right people talking to each other, so that libraries understand what publishers need, and publishers understand the power and value of libraries' grassroots contact with real readers. We also need to address what library/publisher partnerships might do with a digital agenda."
The buddying partnership will take the form of an ongoing conversation between Durcan and Byng, with The Reading Agency providing "stimulus questions" each can address from their own perspective. "Once they have met and shaped how they want to work together, we'll review the model," said McKearney.
In another innovative library/publisher venture, publishers' publicists are to join with staff from TRA to increase the number of library authorities and venues where publishers are happy to send authors for big events. The first round of training is set to begin in 2010, with HarperCollins publicist Alice Moss joining TRA's Sandeep Mahal in training librarians at Newcastle. Six publishers have volunteered to participate in the training, which is being backed by The Society of Chief Librarians and is expected to roll out over 18 months.
McKearney said: "The initiative has come out of our big push to get publishers to trust libraries to do really big author events. There is nothing like hearing how it really is from a publicist to help libraries understand how to pitch and how to host an event, and part of that involves really good arrangements for book sales and relationships with bookshops."