I’d like to clarify some points made in The Times of Malta article about The Malta Book Festival.
The book voucher system was introduced in 2014 and it was augmented progressively from €3 per voucher to €5 per voucher and additional vouchers all handed to students by 2019. The Times of Malta said that the voucher system was announced by the Finance Minister in Parliament last year. I didn’t confirm this by listening to the speech again but if the Minister said this, he is incorrect. What the National Book Council did this year was to expand the vouchers availability and increase it up to €20.
This is thanks to a year-on-year increase in funds for the National Book Council which have continued after my exit, although at a smaller pace.
This is also not the first time the Book Festival had 40,000 attendees (2019 was a record year with most of the MCC including the theatre booked back-to back for both the week and the weekend) but attendance dropped significantly after the Covid pandemic which disrupted the event. Attendance picked up gradually year-on-year. There are other reasons why attendance declined.
As stated by two local publishers, most of the vouchers are spent on foreign books and not on local books.
There have also been efforts by the government and the Ministry of Education to hide my legacy at the National Book Council. For example, I was never informed of this recognition and praise, despite the subject revolving around my work.
Many projects which were near completion under my tenure have now been delayed extensively such as the Malta Book Centre in Valletta which was fully restored by the time I was there, and only the furnishings needed to be added.
I was the Executive Chairman of the National Book Council from 2013 to 2021.
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