Think Local: Attend "Localism" at BookExpo America

Bill McKibben

At BookExpo America, the growing "localism" movement will be spotlighted as part of ABA's information sessions on Saturday, June 2. "Localism ... Is the tipping point at hand?" will look at burgeoning "local first" efforts and how independent retailers are working together to preserve the diversity of their communities. The discussion, moderated by ABA COO Oren Teicher, will feature Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (Times Books/Henry Holt).

"Local is the place we're headed -- and since bookstores got there first in many ways, they deserve to be a big part of the next big economic idea," McKibben told BTW via e-mail.

The June 2 panel, said Teicher, "is all part of ABA's continuing efforts to help educate booksellers about Main Street coalitions and independent business alliances."

For his part, McKibben said, he will talk about "the very big picture -- why we might want to spend the next hundred years reeling in some of the supply lines we spent the last century flinging out -- and also the small picture: some glimpses of places that are making the transition."

Teicher plans to include a quick update on the Shop Local world. "It's a movement that has now clearly become a 'movement,'" he said. "It's gathering critical mass with new independent business alliances being established and the increasing evidence that consumers understand 'localism.'" He added that the recent "San Francisco Retail Diversity Study", commissioned by the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance (SFLOMA) and conducted by Civic Economics, was further evidence that independent bookstores provide more economic value to a community than do chains.

"Localism ... Is the tipping point at hand?" will be held on Saturday, June 2, from 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. in Rooms 1B02/1B03/1B04 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.