Advocacy

Last week, author Patrick Ness launched a fundraiser to support Save the Children, a U.K.-based charity assisting children caught in the current refugee crisis. Contributions have come from publishers and authors, plus one bookseller who is challenging fellow indies to donate. 

Independent bookstores in the nation’s capital are urging Mayor Muriel Bowser to level the playing field for Main Street retailers by requiring remote sellers such as Amazon to collect and remit sales tax.

The American Booksellers for Free Expression has joined the American Library Association and other library groups in urging a federal court to limit the National Security Agency’s surveillance of international electronic communications, including those relating to the purchase and use of books.

Independent bookstores are teaming up with Macmillan on a nationwide food drive to address childhood hunger in their local communities. The campaign is part of a promotion for the novel Crenshaw by Newbery Medalist and Animorphs series creator Katherine Applegate.

Advocates for Independent Business, a coalition of trade associations and other organizations representing locally owned, independent businesses, is cheering a new accounting rule requiring local and state governments to annually disclose the amount of tax breaks they give to corporations in the name of economic development.

Booksellers planning celebrations for Banned Books Week (September 27–October 3) can take advantage of an additional discount on a wide range of banned and challenged titles, as well as downloadable Banned Books Week-themed designs.

Just in time for this year’s Banned Books Week, the Ingram Content Group is offering an additional discount on a list of 450 banned and challenged titles on ipage®, Ingram’s search and order content platform.

On January 1, 2016, a new law will go into effect in Delaware that requires all “book service providers” with online sales exceeding two percent of their gross sales to protect the privacy of customer information.

American Booksellers for Free Expression Director Chris Finan and ABA Senior Public Policy Analyst David Grogan discuss their roles advocating on behalf of ABA members.

In his monthly opinion column, ABFE Director Chris Finan looks at troubling results from recent polls on Americans’ understanding of their First Amendment rights as well as their feelings towards censorship.

More than 80 famous chefs and cookbook authors from around the world have come together to assist with food relief efforts for Syrian refugees by contributing recipes to Soup for Syria: Recipes to Celebrate Our Shared Humanity, coming October 1 from Interlink Books.

Regulator Bookshop owner Tom Campbell talks to ABFE Director Chris Finan about how easy he found it to organize a program of readings by local authors and others from banned books, an event he plans to reprise for Banned Books Week.

Advocates for Independent Business has submitted comments to the National Credit Union Administration in support of a proposal that would provide credit unions with more flexibility in meeting the needs of small-business borrowers.

The Small Business Majority launched the Small Business Access to Capital Resource Portal to help small businesses and entrepreneurs explore options for securing funding.

Booksellers planning celebrations for Banned Books Week, which takes place this year from September 27 to October 3, can enhance their displays with a variety of all-new, downloadable Banned Books Week-themed designs for use on posters, bookmarks, T-shirts, and more.