The community dedicated to children’s and youth books in Catalonia is in luck. Barcelona will be the official venue of the IBBY 2028 Congress, the most important congress held worldwide in terms of Children’s and Youth Literature. Barcelona’s candidacy has risen above that of Accra (Ghana), Suwon (Korea) and Sharjah (Emirats Àrabs), the other three finalist cities that have applied to host the prestigious event during which, among other , the delivery of the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
The International Organization for Young People’s Books (IBBY) has made the announcement during the celebration of the Bologna Fair (Italy), the quintessential event dedicated to children’s books. The Spanish Organization for Children’s and Youth Books (OEPLI), together with the IBBYcat section, had submitted their candidacy to be the organizing section in 2028, based on the cataloging of the city as a “City of Literature” for UNESCO and as a great congress city.
The IBBY International Congresses take place every two years and bring together members from all sections of the IBBY world and other LIJ professionals of great relevance on the international scene. The congress also serves as a framework for the presentation of different exhibitions and celebrations such as the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the IBBY Honor List.
The congress also serves as a framework for the presentation of different exhibitions and celebrations such as the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the IBBY Honor List.
The announcement came from Carolina Ballester, executive director of IBBY, at an event that also announced the nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and the IBBY Selection of Outstanding Books for Young People.
The agents involved in the candidacy have highlighted that holding the congress in Barcelona represents an important international showcase and a high-level forum.
The International Book Organization for Young People (IBBY) is a non-profit collective. It is made up of associations and people from all over the world committed to the idea of ??promoting the encounter between books and childhood. Among its objectives is to promote international understanding through books for children and young people and to provide children and young people from all countries with opportunities to access books of literary and artistic quality, among others.
IBBY was founded in Zurich (Switzerland) in 1953 and is made up of more than sixty National Sections. IBBY’s biennial congresses allow IBBY members to meet with other people interested in children’s and young people’s books and reading development from all over the world.
Every two years a different National Section hosts the congress. Hundreds of people attend the conferences, round tables, seminars and workshops that are held on the defined topics. An IBBY congress also serves as a meeting framework for the General Assembly and the meetings that occur around the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the IBBY Honor Roll.
