Free Expression

This Friday, July 11, is the deadline for nominations for the Fall Children's Indie Next List, which will be the debut kids' Next List.

Monday, July 14, is the deadline for ordering this year's newly redesigned FREADOM gift card, featuring both a statement explaining that the participating bookseller is contributing 10 percent of the value of the card to defending the freedom to read and Roger Roth's popular illustration of the Statue of Liberty reading a book. Stores will receive their orders in time for Banned Books Week celebrations (September 27 - October 4).

On Tuesday, July 1, a federal judge struck down an Indiana law requiring bookstores and other retail establishments that sell even a single "sexually explicit" book, magazine, video, or recording to register with the state and pay a $250 license fee. Judge Sarah Evans Barker declared in a written opinion: "Clearly, a vast array of merchants and materials is implicated by the reach of this statute as written.

This week, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) unveiled a new design for its popular FREADOM gift card. Now, along with Roger Roth's popular illustration of the Statue of Liberty reading a book, the face of the FREADOM card explains to customers that the participating bookseller is contributing 10 percent of the value of the card to defending the freedom to read.

Preliminary Injunction to Block Oregon's "Harmful to Minors" Law Denied

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is seeking bookstores to sell the 2008 version of its popular FREADOM gift card, featuring Roger Roth's illustration of the Statue of Liberty reading a book.

Amy Goodman, co-host of the global news hour Democracy Now! and co-author with her brother, David Goodman, of Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (Hyperion), will be talking about her new book, the independent media landscape, and the importance of independe

On Monday, May 19, in a 7 - 2 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a provision of a child pornography law that free speech groups contended punished speech about books that are protected by the First Amendment.

PublicAffairs will present the panel discussion "Obscene in the Extreme: Why Books Still Get Banned" on Saturday, May 31, at BookExpo America.

The event, which begins at 11:00 a.m. in Room 402A of the Los Angeles Convention Center, will be moderated by Nicholas Goldberg, editor of Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion for the Los Angeles Times.

Bestselling author Judy Blume, whose works often appear on lists of the most frequently challenged titles, will sign books in the ABA Lounge at BookExpo America (BEA) on behalf of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

"Judy is a longtime friend of ABFFE, and she has graciously agreed to help us get some attention at BEA," said ABFFE President Chris Finan in a statement.

On Wednesday, May 7, booksellers joined book publishers, video and recording retailers, and an Indianapolis art museum in challenging a new Indiana law that requires any store that sells even a single "sexually explicit" book, magazine, video, or recording to register with the state and pay a $250 license fee.

This Friday, May 2, is the deadline for independent booksellers to offer a friendly but honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Booksellers' opinions are being collected via a quick and anonymous online survey.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is seeking a friendly but honest assessment of its strengths and weaknesses from the people it was created to serve -- independent booksellers -- via a quick and anonymous online survey.

On Friday, April 25, six Oregon booksellers will join the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and a coalition of groups in filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new Oregon law that restricts the display and sale of books and magazines, which are protected by the First Amendment.

Booksellers who would like to take advantage of a special, limited-time membership offer to join both the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and PEN American Center for just $50, the usual price for ABFFE membership alone, need to sign up by Thursday, May 1.