BTW News Briefs

NEIBA Grants New England Independent Alliances Assistance

This week, the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) announced that it would be providing grants to four local independent alliances to help fulfill one of the key objectives of its Strategic Plan. NEIBA's plan stipulates that it "will assist booksellers' efforts in their own communities to shift consumer culture toward supporting locally owned businesses." Grants to be paid out before June 30, the end of NEIBA's fiscal year, will go to:

• Seacoast Buy Local, Portsmouth, New Hampshire: $2,500 to be used in the development and implementation of their interactive Buy Local website;

• Cambridge Local First, Cambridge, Massachusetts: $2,500 to be used to help fund the printing of a 250 - 300 member resource directory;

• Local First Vermont, Burlington, Vermont: $2,500 to be used to help support the salary of a part-time executive director, a requirement of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) to move into Stage Three of their detailed network stages; and

• Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, Massachusetts: $750 to be used in conjunction with Sandwich Chamber of Commerce to help fund a study by the University of Massachusetts Center for Research to professionally measure interest in expanding their holiday "shop local" program to a year-round campaign.

SIBA Announces Book Award Winners

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance has announced the winners of the 2007 SIBA Book Awards, recognizing great books of Southern origin.

This year's winners are:

• Fiction: Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier (Random House)

• Nonfiction: Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields (Holt)

• Children's: Alabama Moon by Watt Key (FSG)

• Poetry: Keep and Give Away by Susan Meyers (University of South Carolina Press)

• Cookbook: I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris (Warner)

The awards will be presented at SIBA's Fall Trade Show in Atlanta during the Book Award Lunch on Friday, September 28.

The 2007 Children's Africana Book Award Winners

The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA) has announced the winners of its 2007 Children's Africana Book Awards, honoring authors and illustrators of outstanding books about Africa published in the U.S. for young children and older readers. The winners were announced on June 16, the International Day of the African Child, at the annual meeting of the Children's Literature Association, and awards will be presented on October 19 in New York City during the annual meeting of the African Studies Association. (See www.AfricaAccessReview.org, "Upcoming Events" for more information.)

• Best Book for Older Readers: Mohieddin Ellabbad, The Illustrator's Notebook (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press; distributed in the U.S. by Publishers Group West)

• Best Book for Young Children: Penda Diakite, I Lost My Tooth in Africa; illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite (Scholastic)

• Honor Book for Young Children: Satomi Ichikawa, My Father's Shop (Kane/Miller)

The Children's Africana Book Awards were established in 1991 by the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association to encourage the publication and use of accurate, balanced children's materials on Africa in U.S. schools and libraries. Since then, 52 books have been honored. The jury of seven includes Outreach Council members, specialists in K-12 curriculum development and university-based scholars, plus one external reviewer well versed in the culture of each title's African setting. Almost 30 U.S. publishers and distributors submitted books for award consideration this year. Essays on the winning titles and reviews of books submitted are published each year in Sankofa: A Journal of African Children's and Young Adult Literature.

Online Sales Enter "Dot Calm Era"

The New York Times recently reported that, while online commerce has enjoyed "hypergrowth" since the inception of the Internet -- with annual sales increasing by more than 25 percent overall -- over the past year, "growth has slowed" in "major sectors like books, tickets, and office supplies." It has also decreased significantly in such categories as health and beauty products, computer peripherals, and pet supplies. And experts believe growth will remain sluggish through the decade. Forrester Research estimates that online book sales will increase only 11 percent this year, compared with nearly 40 percent last year.

One reason for the slowdown, the Times noted, is that sales on the Web are expected to reach five percent of all retail sales, and it will be hard to maintain the same high growth rates. Furthermore, "consumers seem to be experiencing Internet fatigue and are changing their buying habits." And many bricks-and-mortar retailers are now working much harder to make the real shopping experience better than the virtual one.

Ingram Announces Outsource Alliance With Microsoft

On June 20, Ingram Digital Group announced the conclusion of an outsource alliance agreement with Microsoft Corp. by which Ingram Digital will provide high volume scanning and digital file management services for books being uploaded into the newly expanded Live Search Books service.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ingram Digital will act as an outsource partner for book scanning, content acquisition, metadata management, and ongoing account management for publishers participating in the program. Ingram's services to Microsoft will include the scanning and digitizing of print book content submitted for inclusion in Live Search Books, as well as the management of digital files delivered by participating publishers. In addition to the services being provided to Live Search Books participants, Ingram Digital will also be offering publishers the option of accessing the print and digital distribution capabilities available through the Ingram companies.