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NCAC Condemns School Board for Banning Sherman Alexie’s True Diary

In a letter on Monday, April 7, the National Coalition Against Censorship’s (NCAC) Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP) condemned the Idaho, Meridian, school board for its decision to ban Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from high school curricula. The award-winning book had been used on the high school supplemental reading list since 2010.

KRRP was co-founded by NCAC and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and is supported by the Association of American Publishers and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The groups were joined on the letter by Alexie’s publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

The letter cautioned board members that “removing a book because some object to, or disapprove of, its content violates basic constitutional principles,”  and it noted that, under the First Amendment, “[s]chool officials have much wider discretion to include material that has pedagogical value than to exclude it.”

Alexie himself weighed in on the removal, saying: “Book banners want to control debate and limit the imagination. I encourage debate and celebrate imagination. Who should win that battle?”

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is Kids’ Right to Read’s most frequently defended title.

Binc Awards Gift Cards to Marketing Survey Participants

Three hundred and sixty-nine booksellers and book lovers completed the Book Industry Charitable Foundation’s (Binc) recent marketing survey and were entered into a drawing for the grand prize of a $250 American Express gift card or one of 10 second prizes of $25 American Express gift cards. The winners were announced by Binc on April 2.

The grand prize winner is Lindsey McGuirk of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington. The list of second place winners can be found on the Binc website.

The survey results are being analyzed, and when the process is complete, Binc will share the results with anyone who signs up to receive Binc’s monthly e-mail newsletter.

Matthew Baldacci Joins Scholastic as Vice President of Marketing

Scholastic has announced the appointment of Matthew C. Baldacci as vice president of marketing for the Scholastic Trade Publishing division, effective April 28. Baldacci will oversee marketing and brand strategy for all imprints of the Trade Publishing division and will report to Ellie Berger, president of Scholastic Trade Publishing.

Baldacci joins Scholastic from St. Martin’s Press where he was vice president, associate publisher, marketing and sales operations and held various marketing and publishing positions since 1998. He has also been an adjunct professor at NYU’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies/Masters in Publishing Program since 2009. Before joining St. Martin’s, Baldacci held positions at DK Publishing, Simon & Schuster, and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland Names New President

Tim Walker, owner of Walkers Bookshops in Stamford and Oakham, England, is the new president of the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom and Ireland. He succeeds Patrick Neale, owner of Jaffé & Neale Bookshop and Café in Chipping Norton, who held the presidency for two years, The Bookseller reported.