Advocacy

This article, part of an occasional series on the history of free speech by ABFE Director Chris Finan, looks at efforts to ban H.L. Mencken's magazine, American Mercury, in 1920s Boston, which marked the start of a critical battle for free speech in books.

North Carolina author and indie bookstore champion Sara Gruen is responding to the state’s controversial House Bill 2 by coordinating the “Kill the Bill” author reading and fundraiser, to be held May 18.

A guest column in the Wichita Business Journal by ABA Board member Sarah Bagby, of Watermark Books & Café, questions the state’s economic policy in providing an out-of-state competitor with subsidies.

Independent booksellers throughout North Carolina are speaking out against the discriminatory nature of House Bill 2 and addressing its impact on their businesses.

ABA has joined with the Association of American Publishers, the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom, the Children’s Book Council, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance to urge authors, illustrators, and publishers not to boycott North Carolina bookstores.

California’s new minimum wage law provides Gov. Jerry Brown with some flexibility in case the increased wage negatively impacts the state’s economy.

Booksellers at BEA are encouraged to join Stacy Mitchell, a nationally recognized expert on small business and healthy local economies, for an insightful plenary talk about the evolution of localism from primarily a consumer movement to one that also includes policy development and political change.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed a bill that free speech groups feared would have a chilling effect on the selection of books taught in the state’s public schools. In March, ABFE joined a letter urging McAuliffe to veto House Bill 516.

To help small business owners navigate the loan process, the Small Business Majority is hosting the free webinar “Access to Capital 101: Funding Options to Start and Grow Your Business” on Wednesday, April 13.

The 2016–17 New York State budget will increase the statewide minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. To ensure a successful transition, ABA is calling on the governor to take action to support the state’s Main Street retailers and small businesses that will bear the brunt of the increase.

March 31 deadline for Ingram’s Booklove² incentive program; Cover of illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets released; 2016 BEA Global Market Forum to highlight Poland; 2016 Whiting Award winners announced; NCIBA office moving to Sonoma; James Patterson to donate $1.75 million to school libraries for second year

Following negotiations that did not include the state’s business community, California lawmakers and union leaders have reached a deal to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour for all businesses by 2023.

Three video clips featured in the ABA Booksellers Forum education session “Indie Bookstores and the New Localism: What You Can Do” are now available on the ABA YouTube channel.

Starting April 1, certain remote retailers will be required to collect and remit Louisiana sales tax, as a result of e-fairness legislation passed earlier this month.

Kevin Gillies of City Stacks Books & Coffee and Nina Barrett of Bookends & Beginnings will be using some of the many resources in ABA’s New Localism Toolkit to educate customers, elected officials, and others about the need for public policies that ensure the health of locally owned businesses and their communities.