World Book Capital 2007:
Bogotá (Colombia)
The Selection Committee of the World Book Capital 2007, made up of Jean-Manuel Bourgois, Representative of the International Publishers Association (IPA), Françoise Dubruille, Representative of the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), Peter Lor, Representative of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and Georges Poussin on behalf of Milagros del Corral as UNESCO representative, met on 17 June 2005 under the chair of Jean-Manuel Bourgois, in order to examine the applications to the nomination of the World Book Capital 2007, in accordance with Resolution 31 C/Resolution 29, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on 2 November 2001.
The Selection Committee examined the following candidatures:
- Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
- Bogotá (Colombia)
- Coimbra (Portugal)
- Dublin (Ireland)
- Rosario (Argentina) and
- Vienna (Austria)
The Committee welcomed the increase in number of the applications, including for the first time two applications from a region of the world which had so far not been represented (Latin America).
The city of Bogotá was nominated as World Book Capital 2007 for the following reasons:
- comprehensiveness of the bid;
- presence of several specific initiatives for the World Book Capital City 2007 programme, including creative activities for the promotion of reading;
- involvement of all local public and private stakeholders in the book sector.
Furthermore, Members of the Committee unanimously expressed their appreciation for the general quality of the submissions.
The representatives of IPA, IBF and IFLA commit themselves to continue their efforts to ensure a better geographic and cultural distribution among the nominated cities and encourage UNESCO to join them in their endeavours.
Paris, 17 June 2005.
Jean-Manuel Bourgois, IPA
Milagros del Corral, UNESCO
Françoise Dubruille, IBF
Peter Lor, IFLA
