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The American Booksellers Association will be holding a Booksellers Forum in conjunction with the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) Spring Meeting, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, March 8. The UMBA Spring Meeting runs from March 8 - 9.

On Thursday, February 6, approximately 30 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum, held in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA), at Weber's Inn in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to a number of attendees, ABA's sales tax fairness initiative was the hot topic of the discussion.

This week over 560 independent booksellers nationwide joined ABA President Ann Christophersen in signing letters urging their state governors and other elected officials to immediately take steps to enforce state tax laws fairly and uniformly. Specifically, the letters call for states to require retailers with a physical presence in their respective states to collect sales taxes on online sales. (To read the full text of the letter, click here.)

The American Booksellers Association will be holding Booksellers Forums on Friday, March 14, in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) Spring Show, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and in conjunction with the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) Spring Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

There is still time to nominate your handselling favorites for the 2003 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards (BSBY). Every current ABA-member bookstore is entitled to nominate five books in each category: Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's Literature, Illustrated Children's, Rediscovery, and Paperback Book of the Year. The Paperback category is open to both fiction and nonfiction titles.

ABA, in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA), will be holding a Booksellers Forum and an ABACUS Sneak Preview at the Westford Regency Inn & Conference Center in Westford, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon, February 20. [The first February forum and ABACUS preview, as well as a Budgeting and Monitoring Workshop, will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on February 6.

American Booksellers Association volunteer leadership, senior staff, and representatives of the regional associations spent a busy week in meetings from January 12 to 18 in Santa Monica, California. In addition to the ABA Board's winter meeting, the ABA Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC), the newly constituted BookSense.com Users Council (BUC), and members of the regional booksellers associations were all involved in a number of meetings throughout the week.

The first two ABA Booksellers Forums of the year were recently held in California. The first was held in Santa Monica on January 14 and the second in San Francisco on January 15.

There is still time for booksellers to add their names to an ABA letter calling on U.S. governors in the 45 states that collect sales tax to enforce existing tax regulations by making sure that retailers with a physical presence in their states collect sales tax on online sales. Hundreds of booksellers have already added their names to the letter, but ABA is looking to include the signatures of as many ABA member stores in these states as possible.

On February 6, 2003, the American Booksellers Association, in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA), will be holding a Booksellers Forum at Weber's Inn in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The American Booksellers Association begins its series of 2003 Booksellers Forums this month, with two forums in California.

A series of meetings involving ABA and booksellers will be held in Santa Monica, California, from January 11 - 18. Included will be a meeting of the ABA Board, of ABA representatives and leadership of the regional booksellers associations, of the ABA Booksellers Advisory Council, and of the recently established BookSense.com User's Council. In addition, the first two ABA Booksellers Forums of 2003 are scheduled for that period.

Watch BTW for further coverage.

This week many booksellers nationwide received an e-mail from ABA COO Oren Teicher regarding the American Booksellers Association's efforts to achieve greater equity regarding the collection of sales tax on online sales. The e-mail noted the letter that ABA recently sent to the U.S. governors in the 45 states that collect sales tax. In that letter, ABA again called on states to fully enforce existing regulations by ensuring that retailers with a physical presence in their state collect sales tax on online sales.

The bookstore training and consulting group of Paz & Associates, in conjunction with the American Booksellers Association, is offering a spring workshop for those interested in, or already involved in, the process of opening or buying a bookstore. "Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials" will be held on March 23 - 28 in Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Participants will learn:

The American Booksellers Association has once again called on the U.S. governors in the 45 states that collect sales tax to fully enforce existing regulations by ensuring that retailers with a physical presence in their state collect sales tax on online sales.