BTW News Briefs

Wilska Resigns as NEBA President

In a letter dated July 23, New England Booksellers Association members were informed that Eric Wilska of the Bookloft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, had submitted his resignation as president of the regional "due to philosophical differences with a majority of the Board over governance issues, primarily dealing with the relationship between the executive director and the Board."

The letter noted that the Board had unanimously voted to select Allan Schmid, owner of Books, Etc. with stores in Portland and Falmouth, Maine, and current treasurer of NEBA, as president of NEBA for the balance of the 2003 - 2005 term. Vice President Dale Szczeblowski was unable to accede to the presidency, because "he and his partners have just finalized their plans for opening a new store," the letter stated. Carole Horne, vice president of merchandising at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will now serve as treasurer of NEBA.

Des Moines Passes Anti-Patriot Act Resolution

On July 27, the Des Moines City Council passed by a vote of 4 - 3 a resolution condemning aspects of the USA Patriot Act and "seeking redress from federal officials." The action made Iowa's capitol city the 342nd city or state in the nation to adopt an anti-Patriot Act resolution.

"We're thrilled the city's leaders recognize the people of Des Moines deserve to be both safe and free," Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union (ICLU), said in a statement. "The so-called Patriot Act has several provisions that are deeply troubling to liberals and conservatives alike, and the council recognized that."

Meanwhile, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported that Iowa City councilors have no plans to follow suit. This, despite the fact that Iowa City Council members were "swarmed with letters and verbal petitions about one year ago requesting they pass a resolution opposing the Act," the Press-Citizen noted. The council rejected the requests based on its limited jurisdiction and instructed city staff to send a letter to Congress "expressing their concern about the Act," the article explained.

NRF: Retailers Say Banks Mislead Consumers on Debit Card Fees

The National Retail Federation (NRF) announced this week that it has asked the Federal Reserve Board to prevent banks from misleading customers into believing that fees charged for using a PIN number when making debit card purchases in a retail store are imposed by the store rather than the bank. NRF filed the comments on July 23, and argued that many banks do an inadequate job of disclosing to customers that they might be charged a fee if they enter a PIN number when using a debit card in a retail store.

Customers using a Visa or MasterCard-branded debit card issued by their banks have the option of signing for a debit transaction or punching a PIN number into a keypad next to the cash register. Retailers prefer PIN transactions because the secret PIN number is an added security feature (while a signature can easily be forged), and they have lower interchange fees. Many banks have responded to this fact by charging customers a special fee for a PIN transaction to help make up for the lower interchange fee. Banks' practice of charging a fee for PIN use discourages consumers from using the cheaper, more secure form of payment, NRF charged.

NRF asked the Federal Reserve to require any bank that charges a fee for PIN transactions to "fully disclose the fee it will charge and the name of the bank that will receive the fee."

Former Bookseller Tapped as Harcourt's New VP of Sales, Children's Books

This week, Laurie Brown, Harcourt's senior vice president and executive director of sales and marketing, announced that Jennifer Haller has been named vice president of sales, children's books. Haller will be responsible for directing sales and distribution strategies for the house and will work closely with field reps and the full range of customers for the children's market. Haller began her career at Joseph-Beth Booksellers and in 1999 joined Candlewick Press as senior national account manager. She spent the last two years at Houghton Mifflin as national account manager.