Industry News

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) trade show promises to bring together some stellar authors, constructive educational sessions, celebrations, and a host of new titles.

The support for amending the USA Patriot Act continues to grow. On July 31, the same day that Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) introduced The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (S. 1507), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act (S.1552). Both bills would limit searches under the USA Patriot Act to the records of people who are foreign agents engaged in acts of espionage or terrorism.

The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) continues to garner support within the House. All told, the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), now has 129 co-sponsors.

The latest in a series of New England Booksellers Association (NEBA)-sponsored "Shoptalks" will be held in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Thursday, August 14, followed by a complimentary lunch. The event will take place at the Hanover Inn at Dartmouth College and is free and open to all NEBA members.

What a difference a year makes. Last year, in the annual "State of the First Amendment" survey, which is conducted by the First Amendment Center in collaboration with American Journalism Review, 41 percent of Americans surveyed strongly agreed that the First Amendment went too far in the rights it guarantees. This year, that number fell to 19 percent.

As the trade and consumer recognition of the Book Sense Bestseller list grows, bookstores that do not yet regularly report to the list have the potential of significantly helping to widen the scope and awareness of the list. Publishers already look to the Book Sense Bestseller lists as an accurate barometer of trends within the independent bookselling community, and consumer awareness of the bestseller lists (and the Book Sense program in general) is growing rapidly.

The 2003 Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA) Fall Trade Show will be held September 4 - 7 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas.

Attending the trade show from ABA will be CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and Len Vlahos, director, BookSense.com.

The ABA-sponsored programs at MSIBA are:

At press time, it was announced that Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) had introduced The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (S.1507) today, and, on Friday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) would be introducing the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act. Both bills would limit searches under the Patriot Act to the records of people who are "foreign agents" engaged in acts of espionage or terrorism.

Since the news broke about the new national electronic gift card program for stores participating in the Book Sense marketing program, booksellers have had many questions. To help them easily find answers, we've provided an FAQ page to answer many of the common questions. To go to the page, click here.

Or visit http://www.bookweb.org/read/6303 to view gift card designs, a financial analysis and other news.