Manuel González (LIBER): “The book is not in danger: it has adapted to every technological revolution” | Metaglossia: The Translation World | Scoop.it
From www.thenewbarcelonapost.com - September 22, 7:30 PM
Manuel González Moreno, president of Liber, discusses the future of the publishing industry, changing reading habits, the internationalisation of books and the impact of artificial intelligence.

"The New Barcelona Post


AI-translated and reviewed by a professional translator


A Catalan author pens a novel, published by a Barcelona imprint, which ultimately lands in a display window of a Buenos Aires bookshop. Another title crosses the Atlantic bound for New York, while a third is translated into new tongues to reach readers across Frankfurt, New Delhi, or Beijing. At times, the story even leaps off the printed page to become a film, a television series, or a video game. Literary narratives often travel much farther than we tend to think, and fairs like Liber – which holds its 44th edition from 29 September to 1 October at Fira de Barcelona – serve as key bridges making that journey possible, connecting Spanish publishers with international professionals, agents, and buyers.


Welcoming nearly 250 exhibitors and 9,000 professionals for its upcoming edition, Liber does more than simply propel books from Spain's publishing industry onto the global stage: it also captures the transformation of a sector in perpetual motion. Shifting reading habits, emerging markets, and new formats now share space with pressing concerns like reading comprehension – back in the spotlight following the latest PISA report – and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. We sat down to discuss these industry shifts and the future of the printed word with Manuel González Moreno, the newly appointed president of the Spanish Federation of Publishers' Guilds (FGEE) and of Liber, representing an industry that, amid widespread disruption, continues to seek fresh pathways to make stories travel.


— The death of the book has been predicted time and again: first with television, later with the internet, and now with social media and artificial intelligence. Why does it continue to endure?


— As a historian, I have a habit of looking all the way back to prehistory. Yet the simple truth is that even then, human beings felt an innate drive to pass down stories, knowledge, and ideas. First came oral storytelling; later arrived writing and various methods of recording and reproducing texts, from clay tablets and parchment through to paper.


The format, therefore, has constantly evolved, but that fundamental human impulse to tell stories has not. For all these reasons, the future of the book is not under threat: the publishing industry has consistently shown an ability to adapt to every major technological revolution. The printing press transformed the circulation of the written word, yet it did not wipe out other forms of transmission; nor did radio, television, the internet, or audiobooks. These different formats coexist, responding to distinct ways of reading and engaging with content.


Manuel González Moreno, new president of the Federation of Publishers' Guilds of Spain and of Liber. © Fira Barcelona
To understand the growth of the publishing sector, however, one must also look at where we started. In 1975, around 25% of the Spanish population struggled to comprehend texts of even moderate complexity. Spain recorded reading levels far below those seen today, leaving the industry with substantial room to expand. Following the 2008 financial crisis, which hit publishing hard, the sector embarked on a sustained recovery that has continued through to the present day.


"Being able to read, yet unable to fully comprehend what one reads, leaves us far more vulnerable to simplistic messaging and manipulation"


— Yet despite upbeat sales figures and turnover, the latest PISA report sounds the alarm on reading comprehension. What do these findings tell us about the way young people read today?


— Young people read more than any other demographic group, but that does not automatically mean they grasp what they are reading any better. The latest PISA study has raised a major red flag: reading comprehension among evaluated students remains poor. We are not expecting them to plough through monumental works like The Brothers Karamazov; the issue is whether they can analyse, reflect, and genuinely understand what is on the page, moving beyond the bite-sized messaging of the digital space.


— What lies behind this decline?


— It has a great deal to do with the way we consume information today, especially across social media networks, where short, fragmented, and heavily simplified content dominates. This makes it difficult for many young people to build the stamina required to engage with texts that demand greater focus and cognitive depth.


And all of this carries real risks. Deficient reading comprehension can easily slide into a form of functional illiteracy: being able to read, yet unable to fully comprehend what one reads, leaves us far more vulnerable to simplistic messaging and manipulation. That is why it is essential for readers to have access to a rich diversity of books, authors, and viewpoints, allowing them to compare ideas, think critically, and form their own opinions.


— Given the sheer volume of titles published every year, is there a genuine danger of overproduction?


— I do not believe we are facing overproduction. The Spanish market has distinctive traits that explain a substantial portion of the roughly 65,000 new releases published each year. Educational textbooks alone, published across Spain's four official languages, account for more than 20,000 titles. On top of that, essential new editions and technical revisions are continually required in fields such as law, medicine, and engineering.


Not all of these publications are new works chasing the same readership. They cater to very different realities and structural demands. Rather than overproduction, I would describe it as cultural breadth.


Manuel González, president of Liber, notes that the book has not disappeared, but continuously adapted. © Fira Barcelona
— That industry breadth also finds a shared platform at Liber. What role does the fair play for the Spanish publishing sector?


— Liber has evolved enormously over the past four decades. In its early days, the event served primarily to show the wider world that Spain possessed a sophisticated publishing ecosystem capable of producing high-quality books and competing internationally. Today, we have nothing left to prove on that front: Spain’s publishing industry is firmly consolidated, and Liber has established itself as an indispensable international benchmark for Spanish-language publishing and global partnerships. Every year it draws an increasing volume of companies, visitors, and trade buyers from distant markets, including foreign librarians looking to acquire Spanish-language collections.


Related content
Liber turns Barcelona into a global focal point for the Spanish publishing industry
by Ainara Valadez Medina


— How does Liber reflect the wide range of scales and profiles among publishers?


— It is evident in the broad spectrum of publishers and catalogues taking part. Spain counts roughly 3,000 publishing houses, but the approximately 900 imprints belonging to the Spanish Federation of Publishers' Guilds account for over 90% of total industry revenue. What is more, the six largest publishing groups generate around 48% of the €3.1 billion the market turned over last year, while some 800 houses are small independent presses, frequently posting revenues below €200,000 a year and operating with fewer than six staff.


Liber brings together publishers of vastly different sizes and profiles, particularly those for whom scoping out new markets, trading rights, or building professional networks is a commercial priority.


Liber will bring together nearly 250 exhibitors and 9,000 professionals. © Fira Barcelona
— Liber continues to adapt, and this edition brings a feature to Barcelona that debuted at last year's event in Madrid: the Rights Centre. What prompted this new space?


— When we speak of selling rights, we mean an international publisher acquiring the licence to publish a Spanish title in their domestic market, or securing translation rights for another language. Years ago, the Spanish publishing industry was far more accustomed to buying rights than selling them, but the dynamic has shifted: our authors and titles have earned significant international standing.


We have writers commanding wide global appeal, such as Javier Cercas, more than 48 Spanish publishers running subsidiaries across Latin America and North America, and an ever-expanding appetite for the Spanish language worldwide: New Delhi alone counts around 20,000 students learning Spanish through the Instituto Cervantes, while in China that figure is approaching one million. All of this makes rights sales an increasingly vital revenue stream, both economically and culturally.


Liber The 44th edition of Liber will run from 29 September to 1 October at Fira de Barcelona.
— Beyond international publishing rights, what other growth opportunities does Liber see on the horizon?


— The screen and audiovisual sector is one of the clearest. Streaming platforms, television networks, and cinema producers are ravenous for original narratives, and books remain a primary fountainhead for compelling characters, premises, and plots. As a result, more and more authors are licensing adaptation rights for film, television, or even video games. I firmly believe rights licensing for screen adaptations will prove to be one of the industry's greatest growth avenues in the coming years – a trend Liber is actively working to support.


"Artificial intelligence can assist us and streamline workflows, but it can never replace the creator"


— The sector also faces major headwinds: how is artificial intelligence affecting publishing, and what concerns publishers most?


— Artificial intelligence can serve as a highly effective tool for accelerating workflows and cross-referencing vast bodies of information. The problem arises when it ingests content created by human authors without attribution, remuneration, or respect for copyright.


That is why ensuring traceability is vital: we must know where training data originates, and clearly disclose when a work or a book cover has been generated by artificial intelligence. AI can support and streamline processes, but it cannot stand in for the creator. A machine may function as an instrument to generate material, but it cannot hold intellectual property rights. Copyright belongs exclusively to human creators; our responsibility is to guarantee that technology respects and does not displace the authorship of human beings.


— Intellectual property belongs, therefore, to an intellect.


— Exactly: to a human intellect, complete with ideas and emotions – qualities a machine cannot readily replicate.


Ainara Valadez Medina
Writer at The New Barcelona Post


Manuel González


Ainara Valadez Medina


(Writer at The New Barcelona Post)


september 23, 2026 - 01:30


https://www.thenewbarcelonapost.com/en/manuel-gonzalez-liber-interview-future-book-not-in-danger/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Read more