BTW News Briefs

Dutton's Books in North Hollywood to Close

On February 9, LA CityBeat reported that Dutton's Books in North Hollywood, California, would close by the end of March. According to the report, "owner Dave Dutton and his wife, Judy, are simply moving on to their home on Washington State's beautiful Puget Sound, and are quickly emptying the shelves with a 50-percent-off sale that should have the store closed before April.... It's not competition from the Internet or massive superstores that is closing Dutton's."

According to CityBeat, Dutton will turn his passion for vintage materials and historical documents into a business. He plans to become "an online dealer of history" in Washington.

The closing does not affect Dutton's Brentwood, which is owned by Dutton's younger brother, Doug Dutton.

Lagardere to Acquire Time Warner Book Group

On February 6, Lagardere SCA and Time Warner Inc. announced that Lagardere will acquire Time Warner Book Group, the fifth largest U.S. book publisher, for $537.5 million. In a statement to the press, Lagardere General and Managing Partner Arnaud Lagardere said, "This acquisition of the Time Warner Book Group represents an ambitious strategic move for our Book Publishing operations, which have proven to be a source of revenue growth and improved profitability.... I welcome the people of the illustrious Time Warner Book Group. Their new home is dedicated to the values of the book publishing industry and, with Arnaud Nourry as their leader, they will be in very good hands."

In the same statement, Time Warner Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dick Parsons noted, "This is a terrific transaction that is the right thing to do for both the Time Warner Book Group and our shareholders. With its record-breaking performance in 2005, the Book Group is at the top of its game. To build on this success, however, it needs the scale and other advantages that come from being part of a larger, more global book publisher."

Obama Wins Spoken Word Grammy

On February 8, the Recording Academy held the 48th Annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Awards were given for recordings released from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) won the Spoken Word Grammy award for his narration of the audio book, Dreams From My Father (Random House Audio), also written by Obama. For the complete list of winners, go to www.grammy.com.

ABC Announces New Executive Director

On February 6, the Board of Directors of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) announced the appointment of Kristen McLean, currently a marketing manager at Houghton Mifflin Company, to the position of executive director. McLean will succeed ABC's current executive director, Anne Irish, who has decided to retire. McLean comes to the job with a varied background as a designer, toy and book seller, sales rep, and marketer.