Rabat named UNESCO World Book Capital

The Moroccan capital, Rabat, has been designated as the UNESCO World Book Capital for the year 2026. This label is meant to promote literacy, lifelong learning, the protection of copyright, and freedom of expression. However, the designation does not reflect a dynamic book sector, which still awaits a true public policy.

Morocco's cultural diplomacy efforts

Morocco has been active in cultural diplomacy, serving as a guest of honor at several international book fairs, including Paris in 2017 and 2025, Quebec in 2018, Brussels in 2020, Sharjah in 2024, Panama in 2025, and Morelia in Mexico in 2026. The country has also entered the network of world book capitals this year.

Challenges in Morocco's book sector

Despite these international efforts, the book sector in Morocco faces significant challenges. According to the High Planning Commission (HCP), there were 240 libraries recorded in 2022, a decrease from 332 in 2021 and 394 in 2014. This represents a loss of more than 150 libraries in nearly ten years.

Limited resources for library development

The Ministry of Culture has allocated the budget for the Department of Public Reading to fund a book publishing support program, mainly aimed at supporting bookstores and publishers. This has resulted in a lack of budget to create new libraries, hire qualified librarians, update collections, and organize activities to make these places accessible to citizens.

Focus on events over infrastructure

The Ministry favors an event-based approach, with the International Book and Publishing Fair (SIEL) being the primary event. The SIEL, created in Casablanca in 1987, has been transferred to Rabat since 2022. Its budget has increased from 8 million dirhams (about 800,000 euros) to 45 million dirhams in 2024 (about 4.5 million euros).

Logistical challenges for the SIEL

The event has faced logistical challenges, including the need for a temporary tent due to the lack of an equivalent to the Casablanca Fair Office. The event's dates have also become flexible, following the lunar month of Ramadan. Official media report significant attendance at the SIEL, with about 502,000 visitors in 2026 and 3 million books sold.

Fragile bookshop network

The event highlights the fragility of the bookshop network, with less than 750 bookshops in the whole country, of which barely 45 are independent. The Association of Independent Bookshops of Morocco (ALIM) is fighting to label these stores according to professionalism criteria, including the ability to give advice and organize meetings.

Efforts to improve bookshop accessibility

The ALIM launched a platform, Librairiesdumaroc.ma, to allow readers to ensure the availability of the books they are looking for in their local bookshops. However, the lack of informatization of bookshops to share their stocks in real time has hindered the development of an online purchase function.

Economic pressures on bookshops

The increase in land prices, the rise in the minimum wage, and inflation have weakened bookshops, whose sales have continued to erode, with a noticeable acceleration since the pandemic. Some have had to close their doors, and secondhand book dealers are disappearing, depriving less affluent readers of access to books.

Piracy undermines the book industry

Piracy is a major issue in the Moroccan book sector, affecting both physical and digital books. Informal stalls and itinerant vendors sell pirated books at low prices, leading to unfair competition for bookshops. The National Bookstore, a subsidiary of the Hachette Livre group, has been able to launch an action against piracy, calling for a "national action against piracy."

Inaction on piracy laws

However, no study has estimated the number of pirated paper books in circulation, and no action has been taken to implement existing laws against counterfeiting. The inaction of public authorities in the face of piracy is destructive, weakening the economic ecosystem and legitimizing the informal and non-respect of the law.

Piracy devalues intellectual work

Piracy also contributes to the symbolic devaluation of the book and all intellectual achievements. The convergence of these structural issues and the predominance of the school in the bookshops' treasuries reduces the book in Morocco to a seasonal temporality, with limited promotion of general literature books.

Illiteracy remains a problem

Illiteracy remains significant in Morocco, with 10 million people affected in 2023. The public school system is criticized for relegating the popular classes, with 300,000 students stopping studying each year without a diploma. The wealthiest classes prefer foreign missions over public schools.

Language and education challenges

Illiteracy rates are regularly criticized in the PISA rankings. True bilingualism has disappeared, replaced by a lack of correct mastery of both Arabic and French. The university is no longer a space for research and critical debate, and the press faces challenges with legal actions against investigative journalists.

Limited literary space

Literary criticism has almost disappeared, and the place reserved for books in the media is often limited to interviews or press releases. The book chain responsible for the production and distribution of books and ideas is incomplete, with existing distributors focusing on imported books, especially school books.

Limited support for Moroccan literature

They do not work on Moroccan general literature, which struggles to find its readers. The possibility of discovering books in bookshops or libraries is reduced, and no writer in Morocco lives off their pen, pushing them to consider careers in more structured circuits.

Diaspora and intellectual property

The rights of some Moroccan classics are held by French publishing houses, and the Advisory Council of the Moroccan diaspora community is active in supporting the reissue and translation of authors from the diaspora. However, the lack of structuring of the book sector in Morocco is not only an economic issue but a democratic issue.

Access to books as a human right

The choices of soft power should not be made at the expense of access to this fundamental human right.