April 2015 | Nate Pedersen

ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs Across the Globe Today

ilab pop up book fair 2015.jpg
If you happen to be wandering through the Australian bush today, keep an eye open for an antiquarian bookshop operating out of a wool shed.

Antiquarian booksellers across the world are participating in ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers) pop up book fairs. From Sydney to Tokyo to Cape Town, then on to Moscow and the major capitals of Europe, and finally to New York, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest, these pop up book fairs will celebrate UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day by showcasing rare books in ephemera in unexpected places around the globe.

The pop up book fairs will take place in museums, libraries, private clubs, train stations, museums, brew pups, skyscrapers, and on roof terraces, street corners, and boats. Booksellers will aim to engage passers-by with interesting and curated selections of rare books, prints, manuscripts, and ephemera. 

2015 marks the first time that ILAB has participated in UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, which celebrates the gift--and human right--of reading. Each pop up book fair will feature a large poster of an empty bookcase.  

In addition to offering items for perusal and sale, the pop up book fairs will solicit donations for UNESCO's South Sudan project. Symbolic book spines will be "sold" (throughout the day to fill up the bookcase: $3 sends one book a child in South Sudan; $15 purchases a set of 12 school books for a classroom, and $500 provides 45 school book collections for a Sudanese community.

Look for a pop up book fair near you today. You can find a full list of the pop up book fair locations on the ILAB website.