Industry News

Booksellers who were among the first to sign up for the Book Sense Gift Card program are now receiving their card orders from Givex. Training manuals are being sent in PDF format to booksellers via e-mail from Givex, and ABA is sending a folder to participants that includes a window decal, counter card, and shelf-talkers to help promote the gift cards in the store.

Banned Books Week, observed this year from September 22 - 27, resonated profoundly with booksellers and others concerned about our civil liberties.

The October 6 issue of The New Yorker -- on sale now -- features the latest Book Sense insert, "Just Kidding -- Great Books for Children and Young Adults." The five-page special feature presents the handselling favorites of 12 independent booksellers -- all titles drawn from the fall 2003 Children's Book Sense 76. (To view the full 76, click here.)

Bookseller Pat Kirby Sado, age 56, died suddenly in New York on September 19. Sado spent most of her bookselling career as a buyer at the old Coliseum Books, at 57th and Broadway, from 1974 until 2001, when the store closed.

People often want a sound bite explanation of why the store is closing, said Mary Ellen Kavanaugh, owner of My Sisters' Words -- The Next Wave in Syracuse, New York. "But there's never one simple answer," she said. "It's a whole mix of culture, economics, the times we're in, all kinds of things.

Monday, October 6, is the deadline for receipt of nominations of candidates to serve on the ABA Board of Directors. Any ABA member may submit nominations to the Nominating Committee, chaired by Neal Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz.

The Allerton Crowne Plaza on Chicago's Magnificent Mile is the exclusive host hotel for ABA bookseller members at BookExpo America 2004 (BEA). Most rooms at the Allerton, which has been dubbed the Hotel ABA/Chicago, have been reserved for ABA booksellers at a special low price and include a special complimentary package of benefits.

The second pick of the revived Oprah's Book Club is Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (Scribner). The announcement was made on Monday, September 29.

On Thursday, September 25, Representatives Ernest Istook (R-OK) and William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced legislation into the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow states to simplify sales tax, with equal tax treatment between local merchants and remote sellers. It is also expected that Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Michael Enzi (R-WY) will introduce a similar bill into the Senate next week.

On September 18, members of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) unanimously approved the Product Identification Policy Statement that endorses a 13-digit ISBN as proposed by the International Organization for Standardization, with an implementation date of January 2007. The statement also called for the Bookland EAN barcode to replace the price-point UPC where it is currently used on books and book-related products, effective January 1, 2005.

New York is Book Country (NYIBC), a five-day literary festival, celebrated its 25th anniversary this year with activities held from September 17 - 21, in New York City. NYIBC, a non-profit organization that promotes the joy of reading and writing, created the festival, which includes dozens of in-school programs and themed book events in all five New York boroughs. The events culminated on Sunday with the annual Fifth Avenue street fair, which attracted approximately 250,000 visitors.

Booksellers, publishers, and authors gathered at the Events Center at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Trade Show on Sunday and Monday, September 21 - 22. It was the association's first trade show in Atlantic City since 1997, and over 500 publishers were represented on the trade show floor. In addition, over 100 authors attended to sign books.