About ABA

A slide presentation from the session "Identify Competition & Self-Evaluation: A Method to Conduct the Analysis," presented by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz at September's Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association trade show, is now available to ABA bookstore members online in the Professional Development section of BookWeb.org or by clicking here.

The American Booksellers Association's Board of Directors and senior staff met from Sunday, September 19, through Tuesday, September 21, in Denver.

During the meeting the ABA Board:

The Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) Fall Trade Show is being held from Thursday, September 16, through Sunday, September 19, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver, and ABA hopes booksellers will stop by the ABA booth on the trade show floor to learn about the Book Sense Gift Card Program and to share their thoughts on the direction of future ABA educational programming. In addition to its presence on the trade show floor, ABA is offering three educational sessions at the show on Friday, September 17:

This past weekend, ABA completed software programming to integrate its new association membership database with the BookWeb.org and Book Buyer's Handbook Web sites. These changes have created the need for members to re-enter their user names and passwords to gain access to members-only sections of the sites.

Russ Lawrence

During my time on ABA's Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC), one of the priorities that arose was providing opportunities for booksellers to get together and share ideas.

Traffic on ABA's four online booksellers' forums on BookWeb.org has always had its ups and downs, but as we slip into the final weeks of summer, it has dropped off significantly, and this is distressing to some ABA member booksellers who view the forums as a vital tool for the exchange of ideas.

With the final phase of the Campaign for Reader Privacy (www.readerprivacy.com) nearing, ABA is encouraging all booksellers to intensify their efforts to collect signatures for the grassroots petition drive to amend Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

The Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) Fall Trade Show will be held from Thursday, September 16, through Sunday, September 19, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver. This year's show will once again feature educational panels and the Saturday Night Author Reception. And, in response to the popularity of last year's reception, a Friday Night Author Reception has been added.

The number-one goal of ABA's strategic plan is to "provide independent professional booksellers with access to the education, information, and business services they need to succeed in a changing world." With this in mind, the ABA Board of Directors and staff are embarking on a program to grow ABA's educational offerings and are seeking bookseller input through the "ABA Education 2005 Survey." This week, a link to the survey was sent to ABA members via e-mail.

The American Booksellers Association's Board of Directors and senior staff met from Thursday, July 8, through Sunday, July 11. The first day of meetings was held in New York City and was preceded by an orientation for the new members of the Board, Linda Ramsdell of Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont, and Cathy Langer of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, on Wednesday, July 7, also in New York City. The remaining meetings were held at ABA's headquarters in Tarrytown, New York.

During the July meeting, the Board:

On Thursday, July 8, the Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations Bill, died in a tie vote -- 210 - 210 -- in the U.S. House of Representatives. The amendment had been introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and would have barred the Justice Department from using any of the money appropriated under the CJS bill to search bookstore and library records under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

ABA President Mitchell Kaplan

A letter from newly elected ABA President Mitchell Kaplan to bookstore members announces the completion of the sale of the association's headquarters property in Tarrytown, New York, to Diamond Properties of Va