Industry News

On Friday, January 27, at ABA's First Annual Winter Institute, one of the sessions capping two days of educational programming was "Above the Treeline," presented by ATL founder John Rubin.

February 28 is the deadline for ballots for the 2006 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards, which will be presented at the American Booksellers Association's Celebration of Bookselling at BookExpo America in May in Washington, D.C.

This week, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the Media Coalition are moving from their longtime home on Fulton Street in Manhattan to Chelsea, where the organizations will be sharing new offices with the National Coalition Against Censorship.

The new address is 275 Seventh Ave., 15th fl., New York, NY 10001. The organizations' telephone numbers will remain the same, (212) 587-4025.

Beginning with an 8:30 a.m. session on "Budgeting & Monitoring," and continuing for almost 10 hours of programming, Day 1 of the first-annual American Booksellers Association Winter Institute kicked off on Thursday in Long Beach, California. More than 360 independent booksellers from approximately 200 stores are attending 25 educational sessions designed to offer a wide range of programming for booksellers at different levels of experience, as well as other meetings and social events.

With the deadline for the House and Senate votes on the Patriot Act reauthorization looming and House and Senate negotiations over the report at a standstill as reported by the Washington Post, the push to ensure that the reauthorized USA Patriot Act protects readers' right to privacy has begun.

For the last few weeks, the rumor had been circulating among concerned Corte Madera residents and even in local media: Barnes & Noble was planning to move from its present location in nearby Greenbrae, California, to a much larger and more convenient space very close to the independent Book Passage Corte Madera. The rumor even spurred a number of concerned citizens to launch a grassroots movement to protest the potential move in support of their local bookstore.

The Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) has officially changed its name to the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). SIBA, which made the announcement on January 23, stated that the change "reflects an increased commitment towards activism and advocacy for the independent bookstores in the South."

Newton Library Refuses Law Enforcement Demand to Examine Computer Without Warrant

On Wednesday, January 25, the Newton TAB reported that Newton (Massachusetts) Free Library officials "refused to let police and the FBI examine library computers without a warrant."

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), a non-governmental organization of booksellers associations and booksellers from around the world, has announced plans for the publication of a calendar featuring photographs of 50 bookshops in all IBF member countries.

Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California, is no stranger to tongue-in-cheek, clever marketing gambits. In 1993, the bookstore weighed Rush Limbaugh's book and sold it at the price of baloney. In 1995, the store included an airline "barf bag" with every copy of Newt Gingrich's To Renew America (HarperCollins).

Each year, ABA Bookstore Members in good standing may place up to four free two-week Classified Ad insertions in Bookselling This Week. BTW Classifieds are the perfect place for booksellers to advertise stores and fixtures for sale, to place help wanted ads, and more.

If new bookseller Karen Emmerling could go back in time and listen to three words of advice before launching her general bookstore, Beach Books, in the small coastal town of Seaside, Oregon, she would want someone to tell her, "Do more research." After being open for two months, she confessed, "There's an awful lot more to think about than I probably considered, not having had a background in retail or books." But despite the warp-speed learning process, "everything has really fallen into place," she said.

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced that Hotel ABA/D.C., the Doubletree Crystal City, which is the exclusive hotel for ABA member booksellers attending BookExpo America 2006 in Washington, D.C., is sold out. At the same time, the association announced the opening of registration at an overflow hotel, the Hilton Crystal City, just a few minutes ride from the Doubletree.

The American Booksellers Association's 2006 Forum Tour begins on Monday, February 13, at the Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia. The event, which features an education component, is being held in conjunction with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), formerly the Southeast Booksellers Association, Bookseller Revival. All members of SIBA and ABA are welcome to participate in the free program.

Here's an updated list of authors and illustrators appearing at next Thursday evening's Winter Institute Reception, an announcement of the panelists taking part in Friday's session "Independent Retailing in the U.S. Today," and news about a Spanish-Language Bookstore Focus Group.

Authors and Illustrators to Attend Thursday Evening Reception