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.

On Thursday, July 31, NBC News' Today Show announced that the latest selection of its monthly "Today Book Club" is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Doubleday). The title was a July/August 2003 Book Sense 76 pick. Dave Barry, who appeared on the popular morning show with Haddon, chose the book.

On Wednesday, July 30, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed on behalf of six advocacy and community groups a legal challenge to Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act in federal court in Detroit. Members and clients of the six groups contend that they are currently the targets of investigation because of their ethnicity, religion, and political association, according to an ACLU press release. The lawsuit names Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller as the defendants.

Here are independent booksellers' picks for the top ten small press titles for the fall. Pads will be in the August white box mailing and a downloadable PDF file will be available at http://www.bookweb.org/read/1474. This Web page also includes links to all past Book Sense 76s.

Very many thanks to all the independent booksellers who shared their enthusiastic nominations for this top ten list.

Friday, August 1, is the deadline for two upcoming Book Sense 76 lists:

"I tried not to go to too many hills," said Julie Todd of A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco. On Saturday, July 12, which was a sunny, beautiful day in the Bay Area, Todd led an all-day literary bicycle tour of independent bookstores in San Francisco. The 16 cyclists met in the morning at A Clean Well-Lighted Place and cycled to 10 independents over the course of the day, pausing at each store to browse and buy books. At every stop, a bookseller would discuss a current favorite book and/or giving a brief history of their store.

Jeff Milchen and Jennifer Rockne want to change community culture on a national level, one town at a time. Milchen and Rockne aspire to help local businesses band together and to educate communities on the value of supporting local, independent businesses. That's why, in August of 2001, they founded the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA).