The American Booksellers Association has created a list of 28 notable titles on the importance of building and strengthening vibrant local economies.

Ranging from informative accounts about the true cost of chain mega-retailers to exposes about the fast food industry and the politics of globalization, all of the titles chosen were highlighted by independent booksellers as especially timely and significant.

Since the late 1990s, the number of independent business alliances (IBAs) and local first organizations (LFOs) has grown steadily. Today, there are IBAs and LFOs in 26 states -- some affiliated with the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) or the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and others unaffiliated.

It's not often that consumers take it upon themselves to form an independent business alliance, but for Suzie Johnson ensuring that Bozeman, Montana, maintained its unique character was very important. So, several years ago, when she found out just how crucial it is for communities to support local independent business, she acted. In 2002, she founded the Gallatin Valley Independent Business Alliance, for which she now serves as president.

On November 18, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, communities around the country will celebrate America Unchained! -- a national event sponsored by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), that urges communities to "unchain themselves" and to shop only at locally owned independent businesses for the day.

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) has partnered with the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) in an effort to help its members create independent business alliances. NAIBA will help subsidize the cost of AMIBA membership for 11 members' independent business alliances and will sponsor AMIBA "road tours."

By Michael H. Shuman

Penny Latham of Paperback Writer, a bookstore in White Stone, Virginia, didn't have to be in the business long to figure out how important an independent business alliance is to local retailers and to the economic viability of a community. Latham, who also owns Penny Lane, an antiques store in White Stone, opened Paperback Writer in December 2005.

Over the past decade, the town of Forest Park, Illinois, situated about 10 miles west of Chicago, has gone through a retail transformation. Once overshadowed by the popular shopping destination of nearby Oak Park, Forest Park has become a haven for independent businesses, said Augie Aleksy, the owner of Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore.

An ordinance that placed a size cap of 60,000 square feet on new retail outlets in Ravalli County, Montana, has been suspended and will now be put to a vote in November.

It was a year ago that 12 Cambridge, Massachusetts, business owners met to discuss the creation of Cambridge Local First. On July 14, the group, including founding members Harvard Book Store and Porter Square Books, celebrated the anniversary of that first meeting ... with good reason.