austraL asia #2591
"Every new book is a new Salesian"
BARCELONA: 9th February 2010 -- A man with many years of experience in the publishing industry, and who has published Salesian material from outstanding Salesian authors writing in English rather than Italian or other languages (Murdoch, Winstanley, O'Malley to name just three), put it all very neatly at the European Salesian Publishers' meeting which has just concluded in Barcelona: "Every new book is a new Salesian", Fr Tony Bailey of the UK said, and went on to explain how Salesians can reach out to corners of today's society that a Salesian might never get to.
He was simply expressing in his own words what Don Bosco had said so poetically when writing of the spreading of good books:
It can even enter homes
where the priest cannot.
The dubious will
take it as a gift
or remembrance.
There is no blush in the offering of it.
Neglected, it does not feel troubled.
Read, it calmly teaches truth.
Scorned, it does not lament the fact,
but leaves a lingering regret,
sparks desire to know the truth
which it is disposed, always, to teach.....
And so on.
In what has been a watershed for Salesian Publishing, certainly in Europe, but possibly for others parts of the world too, 19 out of 20 Salesian Publishers came together in Barcelona from 4-7 February. Apart from the very positive result for individual publishers who were able to get to know one another, in many cases for the first time, and establish some formal arrangements together, the most positive element was the immediate recognition of a potential corporate image and the first steps to establish that more firmly and visibly. In fact the Publishers took the lead from the SC Department and have organised themselves to meet annually. The department need only concern itself with bringing them together every three years to evaluate progress and keeping them informed of interim developments. The big players (and there are those with a turnover of around 11 million euro a year) are prepared to help the little players.
What happened at Barcelona will be of interest to Salesians Publishers, of which there are several, in our own region. Who knows, future growth in this corporate sense may well benefit Salesian Publishers in other regions. Latin America is already implicated because of the tie up between Edebé (Barcelona, the largest player of all in the Salesian world) and Argentina, Mexico and Bolivia. Whoever wishes to follow this scene can find useful information at this link.
One of the most enlightening addresses at the Conference came from Fr Sergio Giordani, who manages the SEI in Turin, the longest-existing Salesian Publisher in the world. He drew on aspects of Salesian tradition, not only Don Bosco but also Don Rua who was effectively responsible for founding SEI in 1908, to demonstrate that had Bosco and Rua not been writers, publishers or utterly convinced of the need for this sector, the Salesian Congregation today would be a very different Congregation.
The conference considered some of the thorny fundamental issues (it did not deal with the economic aspects so much as the basic motivation for ensuring that Salesian Publishing can survive in the 21st century) firstly by tackling the view held by some that running a good business is incompatible with Salesian work for the poor. The most effective response to this has in fact come from Pope Benedict XVI who in his most recent encyclical addressed precisely that issue, saying that good business has a social dimension and is essential for human development and for dealing with poverty. It also directly addressed the question of an adequate vision-mission for a Salesian Publisher in the 21st century. Finally, it offered a way forward for publishers who struggle to know how best to create a niche for themselves in a demanding digital environment, by offering regular (annual) updating courses which will treat of this and other challenges facing our publishing houses.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
"Every new book is a new Salesian"
BARCELONA: 9th February 2010 -- A man with many years of experience in the publishing industry, and who has published Salesian material from outstanding Salesian authors writing in English rather than Italian or other languages (Murdoch, Winstanley, O'Malley to name just three), put it all very neatly at the European Salesian Publishers' meeting which has just concluded in Barcelona: "Every new book is a new Salesian", Fr Tony Bailey of the UK said, and went on to explain how Salesians can reach out to corners of today's society that a Salesian might never get to.
He was simply expressing in his own words what Don Bosco had said so poetically when writing of the spreading of good books:
It can even enter homes
where the priest cannot.
The dubious will
take it as a gift
or remembrance.
There is no blush in the offering of it.
Neglected, it does not feel troubled.
Read, it calmly teaches truth.
Scorned, it does not lament the fact,
but leaves a lingering regret,
sparks desire to know the truth
which it is disposed, always, to teach.....
And so on.
In what has been a watershed for Salesian Publishing, certainly in Europe, but possibly for others parts of the world too, 19 out of 20 Salesian Publishers came together in Barcelona from 4-7 February. Apart from the very positive result for individual publishers who were able to get to know one another, in many cases for the first time, and establish some formal arrangements together, the most positive element was the immediate recognition of a potential corporate image and the first steps to establish that more firmly and visibly. In fact the Publishers took the lead from the SC Department and have organised themselves to meet annually. The department need only concern itself with bringing them together every three years to evaluate progress and keeping them informed of interim developments. The big players (and there are those with a turnover of around 11 million euro a year) are prepared to help the little players.
What happened at Barcelona will be of interest to Salesians Publishers, of which there are several, in our own region. Who knows, future growth in this corporate sense may well benefit Salesian Publishers in other regions. Latin America is already implicated because of the tie up between Edebé (Barcelona, the largest player of all in the Salesian world) and Argentina, Mexico and Bolivia. Whoever wishes to follow this scene can find useful information at this link.
One of the most enlightening addresses at the Conference came from Fr Sergio Giordani, who manages the SEI in Turin, the longest-existing Salesian Publisher in the world. He drew on aspects of Salesian tradition, not only Don Bosco but also Don Rua who was effectively responsible for founding SEI in 1908, to demonstrate that had Bosco and Rua not been writers, publishers or utterly convinced of the need for this sector, the Salesian Congregation today would be a very different Congregation.
The conference considered some of the thorny fundamental issues (it did not deal with the economic aspects so much as the basic motivation for ensuring that Salesian Publishing can survive in the 21st century) firstly by tackling the view held by some that running a good business is incompatible with Salesian work for the poor. The most effective response to this has in fact come from Pope Benedict XVI who in his most recent encyclical addressed precisely that issue, saying that good business has a social dimension and is essential for human development and for dealing with poverty. It also directly addressed the question of an adequate vision-mission for a Salesian Publisher in the 21st century. Finally, it offered a way forward for publishers who struggle to know how best to create a niche for themselves in a demanding digital environment, by offering regular (annual) updating courses which will treat of this and other challenges facing our publishing houses.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
