A meeting of the heads and representatives of European Salesian publishing houses is taking place these days (12-15 June 2023) in Bolton, United Kingdom. The goal is to share the experience of each publishing house, look for possible synergies, present new products and share best practices. One of the topics is also to reflect on the role of Salesians in the publishing world.

The meeting, promoted by the Social Communication Sector led by Fr Gildasio Mendes, was organised by the British Don Bosco Press publishing house (Don Bosco Publications) which is hosting participants this year. The meeting is attended by heads of Salesian publishers from Portugal, Spain, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as two coordinators from the Social Communication Sector, Frs Ricardo Campoli and Maciej Makuła.

These meetings began in 2010 when the EDEBÉ publishing house in Barcelona organised the first of them. Over the years more and more publishers have joined this meeting, which is held every two years at the headquarters of one of the various European publishing houses, since it has been shown that they give a sense of continuity, offer the opportunity to explain editorial processes, talk about new products and, in general, to speak of challenges and successes.

Despite the great diversity of operational circumstances among of all these publishing houses, there is a common sense of the Salesian charism that pervades all of them and a willingness to share things that have allowed extraordinary progress to be made over the years. In this sense, European publishers have managed to digitally update processes and modernise design, and have seen the need to segment the market and understand where they can be stronger in their role of evangelising and communicating to help young people.

In conclusion, holding these periodic meetings has woven a spirit of friendship among publishers that is very positive and represents a step forward in the globalisation of the Salesian spirit.

Text taken from ANS

Image: ©Fr Ricardo Campoli