More than 50 professional speakers including international and regional market leaders will get together during 30 sessions to share their views on topical publishing topics at the upcoming Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF).

The 23rd edition of the event will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from the April 24 to 29.

“This will help deliver an accurate and up-to-date assessment of the current state of the book publishing industry and digital content in the Arab region,” said Jumaa Abdulla Al-Qubaisi, director, ADIBF. “The Professional Programme remains one of the fair’s most important pillars and is part of our ongoing commitment to developing a robust publishing industry in the Mena region.”

“The innovative additions to this year’s Professional Programme have been designed to accurately reflect evolving segments in the publishing industry, technological developments in education, ePublishing and reinforce Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a growing centre of publishing excellence.

“All attendees can look forward to a great learning experience, inspiring talks and the prospect of meeting new business partners,” he added.

A number of Professional Programme sessions will focus on the GCC countries as the Market Focus of this year’s fair. Topics to be discussed include the use of ‘social media in publishing’, ‘access to GCC educational markets as part of The Education Chapter series’ and the ‘market for art books in the GCC countries’.

This year’s exhibition has grown by 15 per cent to accommodate hundreds of exhibitors from over 50 countries showcasing over 500,000 titles offering a mix of cultural, intellectual and commercial publications in over 30 different languages.

One of the programme’s key focus points will be the role that technology continues to play in the developing publishing world.  The dedicated eZone area – that has doubled in size - will feature seminars on cutting edge issues at the crossroads of publishing and technology and will host companies from US, Germany, Spain, Greece, the UAE, Jordan and India.

“Our focus will also be on content produced for children and young adults exploring the global trends in children’s book publishing, children’s reading habits in the future and the use of technology in education and the classrooms,” explained Al Qubaisi.

Running in parallel with the ADIBF will be the 19th annual conference & exhibition of the Special Libraries Association - Arabian Gulf Chapter (SLA-AGC), being held in Abu Dhabi from April 23 to 25. More than 350 librarians from the GCC will network during the event and visit the ADIBF to choose from its extensive book catalogue.

The fair’s full catalogue is now available to view online, and registered librarians will have access to a host of special facilities such as free parking, storage for purchased books, concierge service and invitations to evening networking events.

The ‘Illustrators’ Corner’ will continue to be one of the fair’s most popular and dynamic venues this year, and a hub for visual content while the Illustrators’ Corner will have a truly international flavour hosting guests from Spain, Switzerland, UAE, Syria and Malaysia.

To encourage young illustrators, the ADIBF will feature a new Illustrators’ Corner element, in the form of a competition. On a daily basis, illustrators will present their work to a judging panel which will choose the illustration that best represents the day’s events. This will then be published in the next day’s Show Daily providing budding illustrators with a platform to showcase their work. – TradeArabia News Service