Free Expression

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In the wake of the horrifying massacre of the staff of Charlie Hebdo, ABFE Director Chris Finan looks at the courage it takes to stand up for free speech and the challenges facing booksellers.

As part of a social media campaign launched on Monday by ABA and ABFE, booksellers around the country are demonstrating both their solidarity with the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack and their support for free speech.

In a January 12 e-mail, ABA CEO Oren Teicher outlined ways that booksellers can express their solidarity with their colleagues in France in the wake of the horrific killings of the staff of Charlie Hebdo.

The American Booksellers Association and the American Booksellers for Free Expression have joined the National Coalition Against Censorship in condemning this week’s terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

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Sony Pictures, which decided to pull The Interview from widespread distribution after threats from cyber-hackers, “should take a page from America’s booksellers,” wrote Ken Paulson, the president of the First Amendment Center, dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University, and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors, in a December 19 USA TODAY column.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression has been reconstituted as the American Booksellers for Free Expression Group at ABA, starting January 1, 2015. With the change come a new address, telephone number, and e-mail address.

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When the final gavel fell on December 8, the ABFFE holiday auction of children’s book art raised more than $14,000 to support the free speech rights of kids, an increase of 40 percent compared to the previous year.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression’s holiday auction of art by leading children’s book illustrators is underway on eBay through December 8.

Following protests by ABA and NAIBA, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed a bill that would have punished bookstores that mistakenly disclose customer information to the police and other third parties.

The sponsors of Banned Books Week are asking booksellers to respond to a short online survey, which will help organizers improve the only national celebration of the freedom to read.

Effective January 1, the operations of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression will be integrated into ABA’s in order to expand the free speech programming available to independent booksellers.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression has created a variety of tools that bookstores can use to help promote its holiday auction of children’s book art to consumers.