Education Resources

Bookstores are important fixtures in every community. They serve as places to gather, to find and research new ideas, to explore new worlds, and to find refuge. But bookstores can also be intimidating for people who are underrepresented by the makeup of a store's staff That’s why it is important for a store to not only reflect its immediate community but also the larger community. In this session, HR leaders will share with attendees:

• The importance of hiring a diverse staff
• The impact a diverse staff has within the store and on the greater community
• How to find great bookstore employee candidates outside your store’s community

Recently, children's literature has been the subject of debate as readers respond to content related to race, class, culture, individuality, and identity. Authors are self-selecting to delay publication of their books, publishers are canceling titles, and review outlets are retracting starred statuses. There is immense pressure from all sides of the industry to do the right thing, but what is the right thing? This session is designed to be a discussion led by bookselling peers that will begin with a contextual overview of the issues surfacing in kids' books. Attendees will discuss the implications of these issues and how booksellers can productively talk about race, class, culture, individuality, and identity without alienating customers, authors, and each other.

Divisive political commentary and ongoing reports of cultural and social misconduct continue to be highlighted in both national and local media. Because bookstores are both unique meeting places and businesses, many booksellers are struggling with how to navigate the resulting personal and professional pressures. What are the questions that owner/managers and staff should be asking that can lead to fruitful discussions and solutions? If you have found yourself thinking about this and discussing it with colleagues, please join the conversation. Facilitated by a professional moderator, this is an opportunity for booksellers to participate in this important discussion.

As part of the pilot program of the Open Discussion project, five independent bookstores will be launching reading groups in the fall of 2018 with the goal of bringing liberals and conservatives together to discuss the issues that divide them. The Open Discussion Project is sponsored by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) in partnership with ABA. NCAC and ABA are inviting booksellers to join the Open Discussion Project when it goes national next year. A panel of booksellers who are participating in the pilot will discuss their experience.

What if everyone read James Baldwin? He’s one of our most acclaimed 20th century thinkers, his writing exploring countless facets of American society and diving into subjects like sexuality, politics, marriage, police brutality, the Church, race, and love. He observed and critiqued humanity in a way that still resonates with so many of us in 2018 because his words and voice are timeless. Baldwin's groundbreaking work has inspired generations of fervent readers and fans, but what if we could widen that audience? Spread Baldwin's texts even further? Sell his work better, recommend him more frequently alongside other literary giants? We believe we can. Join the National Book Foundation for its new Author in Focus program featuring the work of James Baldwin, a four-time National Book Award nominee. The Foundation will be joined by two dynamic authors at Winter Institute as they help to answer the question of why James Baldwin's work has, does, and will always matter. This event was made possible by the Ford Foundation and Velvet Film.

Join your colleagues for a discussion on creating events and opportunities to highlight women's voices in the store and larger retail community. Hear from booksellers who are fostering women entrepreneurs, cross-promoting with women-owned businesses, creating dynamic in-store programming, and more. ABA members know that a diverse business district promotes a thriving local economy, and they are finding ways to ensure their stores, their communities, and their business districts are as dynamic and profitable as possible.

Never has there been a greater need for diverse and international voices in the American market. In this session, panelists will discuss practices they have brought back to their stores from their experiences with Bookselling Without Borders, a fellowship program that sends U.S. booksellers to foreign book fairs as part of a book industry professional exchange program. Among other things, the Bookselling Without Borders program seeks to help booksellers develop concrete ideas for increasing sales of diverse and international literature in the indie market.

A Refugee Book Drive will be held during Wi14, beginning on Tuesday at the Welcome Desk, then moving to the Galley Room for the remainder of the Institute. Spanish-language books are being collected to benefit parents and children from Central America and Mexico. Organized by Denise Chávez (Casa Camino Real Bookstore, Las Cruces, NM) and administered by Border Servants Corps. Genres and subject suggestions are posted here on BookWeb.org. Refugees are people who have been forced to leave their homes or their country, either because of war, economic or societal problems, their political or religious beliefs, or natural disaster.

While digital accessibility should be at the forefront of every IndieCommerce site, ADA guidelines can be difficult to understand, decipher, and put into practice in a real and meaningful way. In the webinar booksellers will discover how to implement the guiding principles of digital accessibility by learning how to decode the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (the federal standard for digital accessibility) as well as how they can put some of those guidelines into practice on their IndieCommerce and IndieLite websites.

ABA’s webinar on ensuring ADA website compliance was run by Art Frick, who has been designing and developing websites and multimedia collateral for a variety of companies, organizations, and institutions since 2004.