London Book Fair is one of, if not the, biggest conference in the publishing world every year. With over 30,000 attendees this year, it marked a return to pre-pandemic attendance (Anderson, 2024). In an industry when dozens of high-profile deals are made in the LBF International Rights Center’s 500 booths, being there is all but a necessity across all sectors of publishing.

Despite this, LBF has made it painfully clear who belongs at the cramped Olympia Venue, and more importantly, who doesn’t.

Olympia Venue has a maximum venue capacity of 7,000 people (Olympia Grand, n.d.). With the usual drop-off on day three confirmed, it can be inferred that at least one of the previous two days violated that (Anderson, 2024). Beyond the flagrant disregard for fire-safety laws, this posed two other problems: mobility and heat. Visitors with mobility-aids were jostled, tripped over, and more for all three days, though most noticeably on the first two. Queues to get into the talks required standing for anywhere between half an hour to an hour and a half. Despite the long waits, many visitors found themselves queuing in vain, as volunteers didn’t cut the lines off at capacity. I spoke to several other attendees who remarked that they would’ve waited for a different talk had they known they never had a chance to get in. This was especially egregious because only two venues had BSL interpreters and live streaming. Even in streamed talks, there were no subtitles or video. This hypocrisy and the added layer of being held down a flight of stairs when the lift was non-operational was pointed out in “The Marrakesh Treaty and Global Accessibility in Publishing” panel on day three, only for the commenter to be dismissed as “having a lark” by moderator Jose Borghino, Secretary General for the International Publishers Association (Setzer, H. et al., 2024).

The disregard or disabled access didn’t stop at getting in, either. More than once, I watched volunteers ask people to move in order to clear a section of seating to allow a wheelchair user space instead of having a section pre-assigned. Their approach not only reduced access to already-limited seating but also made a production of the wheelchair user being able to attend. Anne Bergman-Tahon from the Federation of European Publishers went so far in her contribution to “The Marrakesh Treaty and Global Accessibility in Publishing” as to say that it wasn’t reasonable to expect books to come in an accessible form despite being one of three panelists to represent the treaty that classified equal access to literature as a human right, and that if disabled people want access, they should do it themselves because it’s expensive (Setzer H. et al, 2024). This was in response to the visually impaired panelist, Selina Mills, saying that disabled people just want to be treated like customers, not charity.

LBF also coincided with Ramadan, a one-month period during which Muslims fast from sundown to sunset. This requires abstaining from food and water, so navigating the largely standing-only venue and managing the heat was at best a challenge and at worst a health hazard which required the fast to be broken per Islamic teachings. It was difficult for the average fairgoer as well, as seen by numerous visitors sprawling in the culverts between booths, nursing water bottles, despite claims of increased seating this year. Disabled access was likewise limited due to the heat and shortage of seating, compounded by the lifts being down not only to the Main Stage which was down a flight of stairs, but between the ground and first floor as well. The usual protocol of having volunteers stationed at each corner and at stairwells was also disregarded, leaving anyone who needed assistance to wander aimlessly.

This casual disregard of the little things that would make life easier for attendees with different needs at London Book Fair is part of a larger trend of inaccessibility in the industry. A single internet search would have informed planners that Ramadan would overlap with their proposed dates, a single disability advisor could have let them know about typical volunteer stations and their importance, and having anyone on their regular staff who could point these things out would eliminate the need for the first two options. I believe that the lack of it speaks to the interest of LBF organisers in promoting the diversity and inclusion that they boast about having by simply including a few talks on accessibility.

One in five people in the world are disabled, and that number is likely to continue to rise as we bear witness to the effects of the mass-disabling event that was the initial onset of COVID-19.

For all that the numbers would suggest that the publishing industry is quickly approaching equality, there are many barriers to be broken down first. Hopefully next year will see the nation’s largest publishing event in a more accessible landscape.

Works Cited

Olympia Grand (no date) Olympia Grand venue | Olympia London. Available at: https://olympia.london/organising/olympia-venues/olympia-grand (Accessed: 22 March 2024). 

Anderson, P. (2024) London Book Fair Closes, citing 30,000 attendees, Publishing Perspectives. Available at: https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/03/london-book-fair-closes-citing-30000-attendees/ (Accessed: 15 March 2024).

Setzer, H. et al. (2024) ‘The Marrakesh Treaty and Global Accessibility in Publishing’, The London Book Fair. The Marrakesh Treaty and Global Accessibility in Publishing, London, 15 March.