About ABA

The American Booksellers Association is currently accepting nominations of booksellers' handselling favorites for the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards (BSBY). All ABA member stores are eligible to nominate titles in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's Literature, Children's Illustrated, and Paperback. Only one nomination form per store is allowed; the first form received will be the official ballot.

On Wednesday, February 25, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher will meet with booksellers at an open forum at Olsson's Books & Records in downtown Washington, D.C. Held in conjunction with the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), the forum is an opportunity for booksellers to ask questions, express opinions, and discuss issues relating to ABA, NAIBA, Book Sense, bookselling in general, and more.

ABA is strongly encouraging bookstores to submit their fiscal 2003 financial statement numbers to the "ABACUS Survey - Year 2."

By Len Vlahos

On Monday, February 9, ABA Communications Manager Kristen Gilligan and BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos set out on a weeklong tour of East Coast bookstores. Here's a report on their final two days on the road. To read about the first three days of their journey, click here.

Day 4 -- February 12
Triad to Research Triangle

On Tuesday, February 17, organizations representing booksellers, librarians, and writers announced the official launch of the "Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP)," a nationwide grassroots effort to restore the safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were eliminated by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

The American Booksellers Association Board of Directors, senior staff, and representatives from the regional booksellers associations held meetings at the DoubleTree Grand Biscayne Bay in Miami, from Thursday, February 5, to Sunday, February 8.

During the meetings, the ABA Board:

On Monday, February 9, ABA Communications Manager Kristen Gilligan and BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos set out on a weeklong tour of East Coast bookstores. Here's a report on their adventures to date.

By Len Vlahos

Day 1 -- February 9

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a five-day trip
Leaving from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship

ABA's forum tour, which provides booksellers across the country with the opportunity to meet with representatives of the ABA Board of Directors and senior staff to ask questions, express opinions, and hear about the association's activities and plans for the future, will be going to California next week.

In an effort to give booksellers more time to make plans for BookExpo America 2004, to be held June 2 - 6 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, ABA is providing below a preliminary programming schedule for the convention.

Highlights include:

In a recent e-mail sent out to all ABA-member bookstores, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz strongly encouraged bookstores to submit their fiscal 2003 financial statement numbers to the "ABACUS Survey -- Year 2."

On Wednesday, February 4, an e-mail was sent out to nonbook vendors who previously had a listing in the Booksellers Resource Directory (formerly the Source Guide). Please note that the deadline for submitting a listing to the directory has been extended to February 13.

On Wednesday, February 25, in conjunction with the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), ABA is holding its Bookseller Forum at Olsson's Books & Records in downtown Washington, D.C. Olsson’s is centrally located, with convenient access by car or public transportation.

Since early January -- when ABA launched a petition campaign to gather signatures of bookstore customers who support amending Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act -- booksellers have been actively collecting signatures toward an ABA-member goal of garnering at least one million signatures. ABA is now urging booksellers who have yet to join the petition campaign to do so, and is also strongly encouraging those booksellers who are participating in the campaign and are sending back signed petition lists to keep collecting signatures.

This month, ABA will be holding three Booksellers Forums in California: On Wednesday, February 18, in conjunction with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) at its offices in The Presidio in San Francisco; on Friday, February 20, at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena; and on Saturday, February 21, at Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. The Pasadena and San Diego forums will be held in conjunction with the Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA). Representing ABA at the forums will be CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher.

On Friday, January 23, ABA President Ann Christophersen, of Women & Children First in Chicago, sent out a letter to non-ABA member booksellers, inviting them to join the association. The letter explains that if non-member booksellers join ABA in 2004, the association will pay their 2004 regional association dues. In addition, the letter states the new members will receive one free admission badge to BookExpo America 2004 and will also receive a free subscription to the electronic and hard copy editions of Publishers Weekly for one year, courtesy of ABA.