BTW New Briefs

Elm Street Books Will Reopen

Elm Street Books in New Canaan, Connecticut, is expected to reopen this summer at a new location, according to the New York Times. One of the owners, Susan Rein, said the store will be 1,800 square feet, about half the size of the previous location, and at a busier Elm Street section. High rent had caused the store to close about two months ago. Rein said the store's lower rent will increase the likelihood of survival, the Times reported. Eight people are investing in the new store, which will be connected to a café. The bookstore is slated to open in mid-August.

California Candidate Sought to Aid B&N in Tax Fight

According to the L.A. Times, California gubernatorial candidate and state controller Steve Westly aided Barnes & Noble in its fight to avoid paying nearly $23 million in taxes on online sales at the same time he was seeking campaign support from the bookstore chain. The Times noted that Westly had been working with Barnes & Noble since 2004 on its efforts to be forgiven the sales taxes, interest, and penalties that state auditors found Barnes & Noble owes for years of online sales. BarnesandNoble.com is now voluntarily collecting sales tax on online sales (read a related story); however, the bookstore chain is fighting the ruling on back taxes in court. The Times noted that other members of the State Board of Equalization rebuffed Westly's efforts, and the case remains in court. According to the paper, Westly has received $8,700 from the chain's executives. Members of a law firm and an accounting firm that represent the company gave several thousand more. Laura Riggio, wife of Stephen Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble gave $5,000.

Librarians Speak Out in Patron Records Case

On May 30, as reported in the New York Times, four Connecticut librarians who had been barred from revealing they had received a government request for patrons' records under the USA Patriot Acts spoke out at a press conference. The librarians, George Christian, Barbara Bailey, Peter Chase, and Janet Nocek expressed their "frustration about the sweeping powers given to law enforcement authorities by the USA Patriot Act," according to the Times. On April 12, the Department of Justice (DOJ) lifted a gag order that had prevented them from discussing their receipt of a National Security Letter (NSL) demanding patron records as part of a counter-terrorism investigation. The Times noted that the librarians opposed "the government's unchecked power to demand library records and were particularly incensed at having been subject to the open-ended nondisclosure order." (Read more about this case.)

Canadian Chain Removes June Issue of Harper's

As reported in the Globe and Mail, Indigo, Canada's largest retail bookseller, removed all copies of the June issue of Harper's Magazine from its 260 stores, because it feared that an article by cartoonist Art Spiegelman could spark protests similar to those evoked by the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper this past September. Indigo Books and Music removed the issue when executives saw that the 10-page Harper's article, "Drawing Blood," included the 12 cartoons first published by Jyllands-Posten. Harper's publisher John MacArthur said he was shocked by the removal of the issue, in part because two large U.S. chains are selling it. "I'd expect an American company to do this, not a Canadian," MacArthur said, according to the Globe and Mail. "Even though you have tougher libel laws than us and your own versions of political correctness, to my mind [Canada] has always been a freer place for political discourse."