INCEPTION

In 2006, Luis González (current director of the FGSR) was concerned to see that the Internet was already transforming many aspects of society and that this would have a significant impact on the way we access reading and on the organization of business models in the book industry. However, there was little concern about the impact of digitalization on public reading services or the publishing industry, according to public debates or industry strategies.

For these reasons, in 2006, the FGSR organized a forum where book professionals could interact in an international setting with professionals from other industries to debate and generate ideas for the future. The objective was to reimagine reading and books, and for this reason, the name READMAGINE was chosen (a play on words between the words «read» and «imagine»). European publishers participated in its first edition in 2006, along with professionals from television, fashion, and market analysts.

It wasn’t until the FGSR opened its centre in Madrid’s former municipal slaughterhouse («Casa del Lector») that another attempt was made to replicate the Readmagine experience. In 2013, Readmagine was held for the first time in Casa del Lector, following the format that would continue into the future: through an alliance with the Spanish Distributors Association and the IPDA, thanks to the conviction of its director, José Manuel Anta. Therefore, although the first trial or experimental edition of Readmagine took place in 2006, it wasn’t until 2013 that we can talk about editions of this forum, with the integration of the International Digital Distributors Meeting.

Since 2013 it has been carried out uninterruptedly at the FGSR headquarters in Madrid: Casa del Lector. Not even in the harsh spring of 2020 Readmagine was interrupted, although on that occasion it was organized online with the participation of professionals from five continents through presentations or on-line working groups.

This conference brings together the most innovative segment of the world of books and reading. Each year Readmagine is organised with a special focus around some issue, trend or challenge and this theme influences most of the dialogues and presentations.