Book and Reading
The Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs implements the policy of the Ministry of Culture, whose broad guidelines are defined nationally, in the field of books, by the Book and Reading Service of the Directorate-General for Media and Cultural Industries (CMIB).
Area and principles of action
The DRAC extends its activities in the field of books and reading to all sectors of the "book chain'That is, the general process from the design of a book to making it available to readers in bookshops and libraries. It intervenes, in particular, to support writers, libraries, bookstores, publishing houses, events promoting books and the development of reading, associations working in this direction.
One of the essential foundations of the policy of the Ministry of Culture, in the field of books and reading, is to help develop the reading offer, regardless of the medium.
If the reading is an individual act falling under the free will of each, it is the responsibility of the public authorities (local authorities and State)
- to set up a policy of contractualisation with the local authorities which aim at structuring professional networks by developing reading territories contracts or by associating all the actors of the book with conventions of cultural development more wide.
- give absolute priority to the strengthening and intensification of the network of public libraries, bookstores and all the economic and cultural actors in the book chain throughout the region.
- to support literary events, which allow an audience of non-lectors to meet authors and books.
Book sector contract
The State - DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region and the National Book Centre are committed to developing a common policy to support and foster the development of the book sector in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region for the period 2020-2023.
This book sector contract has three components: Authors, Publishers and Bookshops, and proposes new support mechanisms developed in consultation with book professionals and the agency Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Book and Reading.
Areas of intervention
The "special contribution from the general decentralisation grant for municipal libraries and departmental lending libraries" is the responsibility of the regional prefect, who has a large budget each year (approximately €5 million) to help municipalities and groupings of municipalities to create, equip, renovate, expand, make accessible, computerise and reintroduce, equip their public libraries with shuttle vehicles and create new services for users, change or extend opening hours.
The DRAC investigates all cases (between 150 and 200 per year) and prepares the annual programming of state aid.
These operations concern the 12 departments of the region, in both urban and rural areas, for projects of varying size depending on the size of the municipalities (from 100 m² to 6 000 m²).
It may be considered that the State’s policy in this field, which is particularly visible and encouraging, is not unrelated to the widespread desire of the municipalities in recent years to offer their citizens quality public reading services.
It should be noted that support for computerisation has adapted to technical changes and that multimedia and access to networks are now eligible for funding in the same way as the automation of basic library functions.
The adaptation and extension of the opening time libraries will be subsidised.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has 7 classified municipal libraries with rich old collections, some of which are state property, following the revolutionary confiscations. About 20 others have heritage collections, old or modern (acquisitions of artists' books and contemporary bibliophilia collections in particular and commissions for works of art binding).
Regional Library Acquisition Funds (FRAB), State-Financed (DRAC) and Regions were created in the 1990s
Since 1993, the DRAC and the Region have created a FRAB (Regional Library Acquisition Fund) to help municipal libraries enrich their valuable collections, ancient books and contemporary bibliophilia. They are intended to help libraries enrich their heritage holdings with ancient, rare or precious documents or contemporary bibliophilia such as books by contemporary artists.
Since the inception of FRAB Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes, more than 200 projects have been supported.
This financial support is not limited to written documents. The Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la communication graphique (Lyon) received aid for the acquisition of wood engraved on the drawings of Gustave Doré for the illustration of Rabelais' works.
Some libraries have been able to develop their iconographic collections (old posters relating to industrial heritage, prints, engravings, drawings).
In order to improve the conditions for the conservation and presentation of heritage collections, the State grants aid for furniture and equipment as well as for the development of premises, through the special assistance of libraries.
The intervention of the DRAC also concerns operations aimed at preserving the written heritage, either in the form of document restoration or through regional plans: plan of digitization of the old regional press, plan of shared conservation of periodicals.
Promotion operations (exhibitions, publications) of the written heritage and mediation are also supported.
The action of the DRAC consists in helping these cultural enterprises to carry out development or modernization projects that allow them to strengthen their position. Projects can cover a wide range of operations, such as expansion, computerisation, acquisition of equipment, etc.
The degree of priority of a project is judged not only by its overall consistency and quality, but also by taking into account the cultural influence of the corresponding bookshop or publishing house. Compliance with the law and regulations on the single price of books is an imperative criterion. Initial training in bookshops is required to obtain a grant.
A study has shown that more bookstores are being created in the region than are disappearing. However, book shops are very fragile and the interventions of the Ministry of Culture cannot annul the laws of the market economy, but only delay or soften its most damaging effects on the economic health of businesses. The Library Plan launched in March 2013 has effectively strengthened existing mechanisms and the complementarity of actors at national level (Centre national du Livre, Association pour le développement de la librairie de création, Institut du financement du cinéma et des industries culturelles) and the DRAC in relation to the Region has allowed numerous interventions including the most important ones with the former bookshops Chapitre including the bookstore of Volcans in Clermont-Ferrand, taken over in SCOP with the help of all public partners.
Around 40 events, fairs, book festivals and major literary events are organized each year in the region, of which about 20 are supported by the DRAC.
These include:
- “generalist” parties attracting a wide audience, such as the Feast of the Book of Saint Stephen
- Festivals with international influence; Meeting of the novel in Lyon, the Appointment of the travel plan in Clermont-Ferrand
-parties which have been able to impose themselves by the quality of the meetings organized, such as the Bron Book Festival or the Literary cafés of Montélimar
-Events with an original theme have acquired an influence going far beyond their city of establishment: this is the case of the Festival of the First novel of Chambéry or the east-west festival in Die
-singular events that have retained their audience, such as Readings under the Tree at Chambon-sur-Lignon
-Youth book fairs (Cantal)
Priority is given to events which are based on a real partnership between libraries, associations and the book industry and which give rise to long-term work. Does the DRAC ensure that the local bookstore is involved in the projects and that the law on the single price of the book is respected for transactions carried out on the spot at these fairs. The many book fairs are not part of this.
These operations aimed at broadening reading audiences are experiencing a considerable increase, linked in particular to a still relatively low rate of library attendance, despite the commissioning of many high-quality equipment in recent years.
They concern, as a matter of priority, the socially disadvantaged populations and are set up, most often, by libraries, associations, reception or animation structures located in cities or districts qualified as sensitive, thanks to the presence of "mediators of the book".
They are also intended to the so-called prevented public : hospitalized patients, inmates of penitentiaries, persons without a fixed place of residence, persons residing in rural areas at considerable distances from any local library.
Finally, they reflect a desire to reach specific audiences that it is important to raise awareness about the book, first of all children, whether individually or in school and even from an early age (we are talking about baby readers).
The intervention of the DRAC is most often in the framework of various collaborations, notably with other ministries: Youth and Sports for the training of mediators of the book, Justice for the financing of a position of chargé de mission for cultural action in prison and the interdepartmental cultural policy culture/justice.
The first aim of the DRAC is to foster strong partnerships between public reading structures and associations or structures without professional staff. The social role of libraries is today an accepted reality that leads to the emergence of new missions or even a new profession, that of "mediator of the book" which can also become a "digital mediator".
The DRAC acts in the regions to negotiate the establishment of CTL signed with the territorial fabric (local authorities, library networks, associative structures) in areas where there is both a need for State assistance to implement meaningful actions and the emergence of local wills to develop actions aimed at the public.
These CTL, lasting 3 years, allow to support a special effort undertaken locally by all actors of the book chain federated around the networks of libraries, and to implement a particular cultural project.
The Region has two of the 12 regional centres for training in library professions, MEDIAT, a joint inter-university service attached to the Pierre Mendès-France Grenoble 2 University and BIBLIAUVERGNE attached to the Blaise-Pascal de Clermont-Ferrand University.
The DRAC has a permanent relationship with another national authority, the National Book Centre (CNL), a public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture.
Since 1991, the DRAC has been investigating all grant applications from stakeholders in the region on behalf of the National Book Centre in two areas: support for book promotion events and support for library book acquisitions. This CNL policy is complementary to that of the Ministry of Culture and must be conducted in harmony with it.
Thus, aid for the development of library collections complements the State’s action in the context of the special contribution of the general decentralisation grant, since it is granted in particular when libraries are created. For its part, the CNL’s assistance to the demonstrations strengthens the overall capacity of the public authorities to intervene and allows the existence of large-scale demonstrations in the regions, such as the Saint-Etienne and Bron book festivals (in different registers), the «Readings under the Tree» of Chambon-sur-Lignon or the Festival of the First Novel of Chambéry.
However, the terms of the CNL grants change regularly to adapt to the reality of the book economy and literary life. Consult the CNL website to follow these developments.
https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Regions/Drac-Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes/La-DRAC/Organigramme
Book and Read advisors are at your disposal:
Anne-Marie Boyer : for departments 26, 38, 73, 74
Tel. 04 72 00 44 82
Noëlle Drognat-Landré : for departments 01, 69, Lyon metropolitan area Tel. 04 72 00 44 16 -
Nicolas Douez : for departments 03, 07, 15, 42, 43, 63 Tel. 04 73 41 27 55 -
