Disasters/Relief

Several ABA member bookstores in the Houston, Texas, area experienced fallout from heavy rains and massive flooding that hit the region on Monday, April 18.

After a pipe burst at The Drama Book Shop and damaged a good portion of its inventory, Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda encouraged his more than 269,000 Twitter followers to support the store: the result has been record sales and widespread media attention for the store.

Magic City Books coming to Tulsa; Savoy Bookshop grand opening set for April 16; Napa Bookmine opens second location; Little Shop of Stories to grow; Grand reopening to celebrate Califon Book Shop’s new owner; Fountainhead Bookstore seeks new logo for new name; Suzy Staubach speaks up for UConn Co-Op; Hamilton creator drives business to Drama Book Shop; Itinerant Literate plans inaugural author event

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation has launched a year-end fundraising campaign with the hopes of raising $10,000 to continue its work providing emergency financial assistance to booksellers in times of crisis.

Ink Spell Books collects donations for fire victims; An Unlikely Story featured on TODAY show; Books Inc. video celebrates Banned Books Week; Michael Barnard marks 20 years at helm of Rakestraw Books

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. 

BTW recently checked in with booksellers on the West Coast who have been impacted by wildfires this season.

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.

The community of Durango, Colorado, is coping with the recent spill that contaminated the Animas River. “Our usual natural disasters are forest fires, avalanches, and flooding,” said Peter Schertz of Maria’s Bookshop. “This manmade disaster is difficult for us to put in perspective.”

Binc blog to cover qualifying events for bookseller assistance; NAIBA announces 2015 award winners; Alice Award shortlist revealed; HarperCollins, Ediouro Group establish HarperCollins Brasil

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of a nine-book series of independent bookseller essays, to be published by Unbridled Books, will go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Booksellers are invited to submit essays through October 1.

The 2015 winners of the Book Industry Charitable Foundation’s Higher Education Scholarships, announced this week, include 53 current bookstore employees/owners and their dependents as well as former Borders Group employees and their dependents.

During the month of May, the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation will be seeking 50 new sustaining donors to provide ongoing support for its bookseller assistance programs.

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation has expanded its list of qualifying events for which booksellers can apply for grants to include childcare or eldercare emergencies.

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation wants to remind booksellers of the assistance available to help individual booksellers who have lost income due to a weather-related store closing or because the bookseller is physically unable to get to work.