Dear Fellow Bookbinders,

As previously announced, NBS is organising the second ever Joint Nordic Congress, 7^th of August 2026, at Leksand Folkhögskola, Sweden. The latest invitation was sent to members 1^st of July. If you haven’t received the invitation for the congress, you are not a member, or your membership has expired. If you would like to participate in the congress in person or online, please pay the membership (advice at the end of this letter). We would love to see you there!

THE JOINT NORDIC CONGRESS AND THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING on Friday the 7^th of August 2026 starting at 13.00 o’clock at Leksand Folkhögskola, Sweden https://leksand.fhsk.se/

The Joint Nordic Congress is held every three years, and it is the highest decision-making body of the Nordic Bookbinding Society. We will combine it with the Annual General Meeting.
Your membership should be active to participate.

The official meeting is followed by a lovely festive dinner together!

We are planning to make it possible to attend the meeting online via Teams (this doesn’t cost anything). The link will be sent to all members of NBS along with the agenda on the 24^th of July.

AGENDA FOR THE CONGRESS

We will have many important issues to discuss and decide. These include changes in the articles of the association and choosing the next board. Where will the next Nordic Bookbinding Exhibition take place? The agenda will be sent to all members in July.

New articles of association

Many of the rules sounded good on paper, but the reality has been different. We also need to add a rule about the General Annual Meeting, which is customary for associations in Sweden, where NBS is registered. The rules can only be changed in the Joint Nordic Congress, with a simple majority of the members present.

New board members

New board members are warmly welcome and very much needed to carry on and develop the activities of NBS. Some of you have already contacted us, many thanks! 

We very much hope to find new board members especially from Norway, Denmark and Iceland. 

Would you like to be part of this international team, or could you encourage a friend to take on this exciting opportunity? To be a board member you only need to be able to speak and understand English. Writing should not be a problem with modern ai help. Of course, it is good to like working with people, but also not to be afraid to take some responsibilities, big or small. This of course will take some time.

Who would like to take the challenge of being the next chairman, secretary or cashier? 

In these positions you will get to be in the heart of the activities and work closely together in an international team. An association like NBS offers very good work practise to many kinds of job positions!

Officers for other activities

There are also many smaller tasks that could be divided to several people, so the workload doesn’t get too much for just few. You don’t necessarily need to be part of the board to do them. We have found out that work in a committee can be too rigid and time consuming, and just one or two passionate and committed persons are enough to get things running smoothly.

• Would you like to develop your skills in writing newsletters or content to the website?

• How about being “a reporter” for our Instagram and Facebook accounts?

• Do you have skills to work with a WordPress website? 

• Would you like to organise online or physical meetings, or trips to exciting places? 

• Do you have ideas for co-operation projects? 

• How about running short or long online courses (paid!)?

• Do you have skills to audit the accounts?

It would be great to have you as part of the team NBS!

Next Nordic Exhibition

Which country would like to take on the responsibility of organising the next joint Nordic exhibition? Suggestions welcome! It is a joy and a burden, and we have learned that posting can be a nightmare. But what wonderful thing it is to come together and show our skills and art! 

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LEKSAND CONGRESS WEEK 4^th – 9^th of August 2026

The Joint Nordic Congress and the Annual General Meeting are part of a five-day congress week at Leksand Folkhögskola as announced previously in members’ mails. During the five days we will have some technical demonstrations, group activities, paper shopping and a bookbinding course by Kathy Abbott and Tracey Rowledge. The whole congress week has 25 participants.

REGISTRATION, FEES AND ACCOMMODATION Attending the Joint Nordic Congress and the Annual General Meeting on Friday the 7th of August and the festive dinner after it:  500 SEK  This fee covers the expense of the Friday evening dinner (alcoholic drinks not included). The fee does not include accommodation and other meals. Note: if you have paid the whole congress week fee this fee is included already and you don’t have to register again! The latest day for us to book a seat at the festive dinner at the Folkhögskola is 30th of July. You can register after this, but we cannot guarantee a seat at the dinner table. To register and pay the congress day + dinner on Friday: Please follow the link to the website: https://nordicbookbindingsociety.com/register/friday_only/ To be able to use this link your membership should be active, and you must be logged in to your membership account. Please find advice at the end of this email. Accommodation and other meals The Congress will be held at Leksand Folkhögskola, Sweden. https://leksand.fhsk.se/ Room reservations and meal bookings should be made directly with the Folkhögskola by phoning 0247-64816 or by email bokning@leksandsfolkhogskola.se . NBS members have been given a special offer, please mention NBS Congress when booking. Please book as soon as possible to get a room, booking is now open for other visitors too.