About ABA

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.

The American Booksellers Association Board of Directors will be meeting at the DoubleTree Grand Hotel in Miami, Florida, this week, from Thursday, February 5 - Sunday, February 8. In addition, the Board will be meeting with Regional Associations on Friday, February 6.

For a list of ABA Board members, go to http://www.bookweb.org/aba/53.html. For a list of Regional Associations, go to http://www.bookweb.org/orgs/286.html.

ABA is asking all nonbook vendors of products and services that would be of interest to independent booksellers to submit data for a free listing in the new Booksellers' Resource Directory (formerly the Source Guide). The directory is a valuable online resource for booksellers looking for vendors of new sidelines, office supplies, display fixtures, computer hardware and software, design services, and much more.

ABA's Booksellers Forum tour heads to California in February. The first of three forums will be held in conjunction with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) at its offices in The Presidio in San Francisco on Wednesday, February 18. This will be followed by forums at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena on Friday, February 20, and at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Diego on Saturday, February 21, both in conjunction with the Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA).

The ABA Booksellers Forum scheduled for Wednesday, January 28, at McIntyre's Fine Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina, was cancelled due to snowy weather conditions up and down the East Coast. "The location of the forum required that booksellers would have to drive, and given the icy weather conditions blanketing the area, we reluctantly decided to cancel the forum and plan to reschedule sometime in the spring," said ABA COO Oren Teicher.

The following letter from ABA President Ann Christophersen of Women and Children First in Chicago was sent to booksellers via e-mail on Wednesday, January 21.

Dear Bookseller:

On Sunday and Monday, January 11 - 12, ABA's Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC) met with representatives of the ABA Board and senior staff in Miami, Florida, to offer the association guidance on a number of issues important to independent booksellers.

The BAC is composed of 25 members and represents a broad cross-section of views from within the community of independent booksellers. For a complete list of BAC members, click here.

Topics discussed at the two days of meetings included:

The American Booksellers Association continued its 2004 Booksellers Forum schedule on Thursday, January 15, in Chicago, where ABA staff met with booksellers in the Great Lakes region. The ABA Booksellers Forum, held in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, was hosted at the Allerton Crowne Plaza, the Hotel ABA/Chicago for BookExpo America (BEA) 2004.

In early January, ABA launched a petition campaign to gather signatures of bookstore customers who support amending Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which stripped away protections for customer privacy. The goal is to garner at least one million signatures.

"We are very pleased by the enthusiastic response that has greeted the launch of our petition campaign," said ABA COO Oren Teicher. "We hope all members of ABA will seriously consider participating."

The American Booksellers Association kicked off its 2004 Booksellers Forum schedule on Friday, January 9, in Tampa, Florida, with a gathering of booksellers from the Southeast Booksellers Association region. The forum, at the Hillsborough County Public Library, was the first of 16 scheduled over the next four months in various locations around the country. (For a complete forum schedule, click here.)

ABA has announced that it is in the process of updating the Bookstore Source Guide, a comprehensive listing of over 1,100 nonbook vendors. It is expected that the Guide will be back online at BookWeb.org in early March with a new name, more categories, and a user-friendly design.

Booksellers at ABA member bookstores are voting to choose the best Book Sense 76 titles of the past five years and, in the process, are entering a contest to win the grand prize of five nights' accommodations and admission to BookExpo America for the next five years or one of four first place prizes to be announced. Participation is open to owners and employees of all ABA member bookstores.

This season's second ABA Booksellers Forum held in conjunction with the Southeast Booksellers Association will take place on Wednesday, January 28, at McIntyre's Fine Books at Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, North Carolina (near Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill). Representing ABA at the forum will be CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher.

In this letter to booksellers, ABA President Ann Christophersen talks about the association's plans to mark the fifth birthday of Book Sense, including a special project to select the best Book Sense 76 titles published during the past five years, a new look for the 76 lists, and changes in White Box mailing procedures.

January 5, 2004

Dear Fellow Booksellers,

Happy New Year!

As part of this year's celebrations of Book Sense at Five, ABA is asking booksellers to help select the best Book Sense 76 titles published during the past five years. Participation is open to all employees of ABA member bookstores, and all participants in the selection process will be entered into a Bookseller Contest with prizes for five booksellers. The grand prize will be free admission and housing at BookExpo America for the next five years.