Now that the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a travel advisory for Toronto because of the threat of SARS, the organizers of three large book-industry shows set to take place in the city within the next two months find their events in a state of particular precariousness. The annual American Library Association show, BookExpo Canada, and the Association of Canadian Publishers convention must contend with the dilemma facing many other June events: hold the conference and risk endangering the health of attendees; cancel it and risk hurting the health of membership's business; or postpone it and hope for an improvement.
There are, said ALA president Mitch Freedman Wednesday from his Westchester, N.Y., office, no other options. He said it is too late to move a show of this size, which is scheduled for mid-June and could draw as many as 20,000 participants.
BEC is set for even earlier in the month, beginning June 6. But show manager Jennifer Sickinger said the event is on track and there are, at the moment, no thoughts about making changes. "We're continuing to monitor the situation," Sickinger said, but she added the convention was not looking into such options as postponement or canceling the event, based on a "feeling that the advisory will be lifted" when it is revisited in three weeks. "The situation is serious, but people aren't running around in Toronto wearing masks," Sickinger said, echoing the comments of many Torontonians.
Fresh from a conference call with board members, John Pelletier, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, which represents 140 Canadian houses, said he was concerned but agrees with local health officials that it's all a question of perception. He said he thought the WHO had "overreacted" to SARS and that the ACP will probably write to the ALA advising it of ACP's opinion. The ACP meeting scheduled to begin June 5 will go on as planned.
The ALA is considering alternatives a little more actively. It released a statement explaining that "it is looking into all our options" and noted, "The health of our members, staff, exhibitors and the wider library community is our primary concern." Consultations with Toronto businesses and a meeting of the ALA board are among the steps that will precede a decision.
While health concerns are the first priority, Freedman says it is not as simple an issue as merely playing it safe and postponing or canceling the show. The show is the lifeblood for many librarians and publishers. "The panoply of issues is immense," Freedman said. Ironically, the show's registration has been running ahead of last year's enrollment in Atlanta. He said that there have been no cancellations yet, though there have been some separate reports of exhibitors pulling out.
Many other trade shows slated for Toronto have been canceled because of SARS, but Freedman said that, with the WHO planning to reevaluate the threat shortly, he has not set a deadline for a decision.
