Books are bought without fuss, and library purchases are a good way to sell them. "We have maybe one thousand, though probably not enough, buyers of books, and the rest go to the library," complains the writer and editor. Why aren't there one thousand children's book buyers per ten million inhabitants?
Maybe a question about the quality of publications? Andrei Kharuzhka from the publishing house "Galiyafa" noted the high competition from imported books in Russian, regretted that we do not have any analysts on sales of children's books in the Belarusian language, and suggested that the situation could change if the publishers were more active in the children's sector.
The question of where to find funding for the growth in the number of books published, even if the modest number of books published today is not sold for years, sounds very painful. Especially in the face of competition from imported books. Of course, one thing is that a book in Russian does not mean anything in itself, and there is also a huge amount of tasteless horror and nightmare, but there is also a whole layer of outstanding publications.
Even if you close your eyes to the experience of the eastern neighbors, you can turn to the experience of the world's trendsetters in detail. Yuya Wieslander shared the Swedish experience of children's publishing. She said that in Sweden, as in other European countries, society is very concerned that children are reading less and less, which may be what leads to a surge in the activity of children's writers and artists - such a protective reaction of society.
It turns out that sales of children's books are growing year by year, but the statistics on children's reading are becoming more and more disappointing: "They buy more and more and read less. The heyday of Scandinavian children's literature is connected not only with the acute topics that writers raise in their texts, but also with experiments, which are ready to go to the artists-illustrators. Yuya Wieslander noted that now the genre of children's picture books is rapidly developing, and artists are looking for new ways to link the text and picture in a single whole.
It seems that Belarusian publishers are not ready for such requirements of the market. Publisher Zmitzer Kolas said that the children's book should not contain catchy pictures, unless it's a book for kids. Classic texts should not be painted with illustrations. The same point of view was shared by Aksana Sprynchan, adding that the books should be different, because the children have different preferences and reading skills: one needs drawings, while the other needs to limit their own imagination.
At the same time, Uladzimir Lankevich, poet, translator and coordinator of the first specialized children's literary prize in Belarus, rightly noted that Belarus could be proud of its school of book graphics. But what if the financial situation in publishing houses does not allow to pay for their work in accordance with the level of their skills. The sums voiced by Aksanai Sprynchan outside the press were made to look at the really interestingly designed Belarusian books (and there are!) with even greater respect.
Here we would like to fantasize and imagine that our publishers could trust young graphic artists and illustrators more, give them an opportunity to experiment with their vision of a new children's book.
Books should be really good and different, publish books in the Belarusian language - an important and worthy work, especially in today's conditions. But what about the observed vicious circle - the books that are available, the buyer does not want to publish competitive books too expensive.
Awards are a great way to raise the prestige of books, authors, publishing houses and the literary process in general. Very important news was announced during the Round Table to Uladzimir Lankevich that next year a special children's book prize will appear in Belarus. Its name and logo are still being developed, but the concept has already formed in general terms.
The prize will be awarded in two categories: the best book for children and adolescents in the Belarusian language and the best illustrations for the book for children and adolescents. There are no plans to divide books by age categories yet, because there are no financial possibilities (I hope, they will appear in the future, because books for three-year-old children and fourteen-year-old teenagers are different worlds), as well as there will be no separate prize for the best translation book.
Another important area of work is monitoring global trends. The information is huge, it is available and even asked to be held, at least through long lists, short lists and the results of international awards. So Yuya Vislander told about one of the most famous ALMA awards (Astrid Lindgren Prize), and there is also a small Nobel Prize - Hans Christian Andersen Prize, there is a list of "White Ravens" of the Munich International Library for Children and Youth, there is the Frankfurt and Bologna fairs, there is finally the International Children's Book Council (which Belarus decided not to enter), there is much more. In my opinion, it is important to be guided in what is going on in the children's book at the global level, even when the work on raising the national literature is to be done.
The children's book today is one of the most promising and free directions in literature, despite its nominal conservatism. It covers new topics, new imaginative language, new artistic means. But we must be able to attract the attention of the audience, in the end, the reader votes for everything. There is little hope for one revival of interest in the national culture. Children and teenagers will read only interesting books. To begin with, it is possible to get acquainted closer with what is really interesting and actual for them.