BTW News Briefs

BEA Raises More Than $30,000 for Book Industry Foundation

On July 19, officials at BookExpo America (BEA) announced that the total amount raised for the Book Industry Foundation through various fundraising efforts at the convention this May was $30,477.50. The money raised at BEA was principally derived through ticket sales from BEA's Saturday Night comedy event, the author autographing Gold Pass initiative, and through individual donations made by attendees in the author autographing area. BEA, which was held this year at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center, May 18 - 21, attracted an audience of approximately 22,000 book industry professionals from all parts of the country.

"I am very pleased to see that we could help raise such a significant amount of money for these causes," Lance Fensterman, event director for BEA said. "Censorship and literacy are two of the most critical issues affecting the book industry, and both ABFFE and the AAP are recognized as industry leaders in promoting their causes. Of course, the real credit for the success of this program goes to the many attendees who willingly contributed to our fundraising initiatives and who participated in BEA's Saturday Night charitable event."

The Book Industry Foundation is comprised of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Association of American Publishers Get Caught Reading campaign. Proceeds from the annual fundraising drive will be divided evenly between the organizations.

Ingram Acquires Vital Source Technologies

On Monday, July 17, Ingram Industries Inc. announced it had completed the acquisition of Vital Source Technologies, Inc. (VitalSource) of Raleigh, North Carolina, a provider of digital content delivery solutions in education and professional learning environments.

VitalSource is now a part of the Ingram Digital Ventures operating group. Ingram describes VitalSource as providing a turnkey solution for portable digital content and as a leader in educational content delivery in such sectors as dental, nursing, and law. Students and faculty acquire content in the company's VitalBook file format through a variety of channels using the VitalSource "Bookshelf" application. Publishers and distributors use the VitalSource P2 platform to create, manage, distribute and track these digital products under a variety of business models, including textbook sales, free demos, study guides, custom course packs, curriculum bundles and more.

John R. Ingram, vice chairman of Ingram Industries Inc., said the acquisition will expand Ingram's existing services to publishers and other content owners by providing a comprehensive offering of digital content accession, storage, management and delivery services.