About ABA

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), a non-governmental organization of booksellers associations and booksellers from around the world, has announced plans for the publication of a calendar featuring photographs of 50 bookshops in all IBF member countries.

The American Booksellers Association's 2006 Forum Tour begins on Monday, February 13, at the Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia. The event, which features an education component, is being held in conjunction with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), formerly the Southeast Booksellers Association, Bookseller Revival. All members of SIBA and ABA are welcome to participate in the free program.

Volvo did not violate Robinson-Patman Act, court declares

From Tuesday, February 28, through Thursday, March 2, booksellers and publishers will meet in New York City for the first in a planned series of focus groups organized by the American Booksellers Association on behalf of the participating publishers. The sessions have been developed as a means for publishers to meet with a cross section of ABA member booksellers to test new ideas and to garner bookseller feedback about existing programs.

Beginning with today's issue, Bookselling This Week will be delivered through Constant Contact software. Subscribers of the HTML version of BTW should not notice any major difference in the presentation of the newsletter.

When the American Booksellers Association's Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC) convenes prior to the Winter Institute, in Long Beach at the end of this month, the 25-member council will welcome nine new volunteers to its ranks. Appointed for two-year terms by ABA's president, currently Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in Miami, with input from ABA staff and the regional booksellers associations, BAC members provide ABA's Board of Directors with input reflecting a broad cross-section of views on issues of concern to independent booksellers.

Two new sessions were recently added to the schedule of educational programming at the American Booksellers Association's inaugural Winter Institute to be held in Long Beach, California, on Thursday, January 26, and on Friday, January 27.

 Here's a reminder about ABA/Book Sense programs and events. This list may also be downloaded in PDF format.

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced a new partnership with Above the Treeline, LLC, which provides an online software product designed to help bookstores improve finances by optimizing inventory selection.

The American Booksellers Association has announced a schedule of 13 Booksellers Forums over the course of three months, beginning in mid-February. Each will bring ABA staff and representatives of its Board of Directors together with membership across the country.

The Bookseller Relief Fund (BRF) recently distributed $80,000 to Gulf Coast booksellers most severely affected by Hurricane Katrina. The disbursement was the second phase of a plan created by the Bookseller Relief Fund Board to provide humanitarian assistance to those most in need.

There will be no issue of Bookselling This Week between Christmas and New Year's Day. However, the Book Sense Bestseller List will be created and will be e-mailed to booksellers and posted to BookWeb on Wednesday, December 28.

Book Sense wants to remind booksellers that it is crucial to keep reporting to the lists at this busiest time of year as next week's list will reflect, what is for most, the last big surge of holiday sales.

The American Booksellers Association has released preliminary registration figures for its inaugural Winter Institute to be held in Long Beach, California, on Thursday, January 26, and on Friday, January 27.

ABA member booksellers may now share Word files, PDFs, and other documents relating to professional development through a simple upload process on BookWeb's Idea Exchange Education Forum. ABA has enabled this function to allow booksellers to share ideas, best business practices, forms, lists, and other resource materials that may exist in different formats.

Recognizing that the Latino population is the fastest growing minority group in the nation, the American Booksellers Association recently convened a Spanish-Language Bookstore Focus Group to gather information about the experiences and needs of independent booksellers serving Spanish-speaking communities.