Education

The American Booksellers Association and the ABC Children’s Group at ABA welcomed 130 booksellers from 32 states to San Antonio, Texas, this week for an upbeat and energetic 2014 ABC Children’s Institute.

A key to the long-term success and sustainability of a new bookstore business is sound professional development, and for those new to retail bookselling, the workshop “Owning a Bookstore: The Business Essentials” will provide fundamental skills required to operate a bookstore business.

To address the Drupal 7 upgrade and its effects on all IndieCommerce stores, ABA is expanding in-person IndieCommerce education at next month’s BEA and is encouraging all stores to send their employees who are involved in website administration.

The impressive list of authors and illustrators appearing at the ABC Children’s Institute has grown to 39, with 10 authors recently added to the roster for the Closing Reception and four authors appearing at the Scholastic Meet & Treat After Party.

Go Local, Grow Local 2014 early registration discount ends March 31; NCIBA holding logo contest; Roxana Robinson elected president of the Authors Guild; Academy of American Poets launches Poet-to-Poet project; National Book Critics Circle names award winners; Penguin Random House to acquire Santillana Ediciones Generales; Consortium adds three presses

ABA’s upcoming ABC Children’s Institute is totally oversubscribed, but thanks to a grant from author James Patterson the event’s plenary and breakout education sessions, as well as interviews of keynote and reception authors, will be available to all ABA member booksellers on video in the weeks following the event.

The ABC Children’s Institute’s six breakout sessions will feature an outstanding lineup of booksellers, authors, publishing professionals, university professors, and librarians, who will offer insights on everything ranging from managing successful bookfairs to selling picture books in the wake of age compression.

ABA will be hosting four Spring Forum programs for booksellers and prospective booksellers in the Great Lakes, Midwest, and Southern regions between Monday, March 10, and Friday, March 14.

Booksellers attending next month’s Children’s Institute in San Antonio, Texas, will be in the running to win an original piece of artwork by award-winning illustrator M. Sarah Klise. 

A new video posted to BookWeb.org affords viewers a peek at highlights of the January 2014 Winter Institute. A number of handouts and PowerPoint presentations from Wi9 education sessions are now available to ABA members on BookWeb’s Education Curriculum page.

The Texas Library Association will hold its annual conference in San Antonio from Tuesday, April 8, through Friday, April 11, immediately following the ABC Children’s Institute, and TLA has generously offered to extend its member rates on passes and programs to all ABA member booksellers.

Registration for the ABC Children’s Institute, which will be held in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday evening, April 6, and all day Monday, April 7, is now booked to capacity. Booksellers can add their names to a waiting list.

ABA has announced the booksellers who will be attending this April’s ABC Children’s Institute on scholarships, thanks to the support of Baker & Taylor, the event’s lead sponsor; 21 publisher sponsors; and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

Booksellers are encouraged to sign up now to secure a spot at this April’s ABC Children’s Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Registration for the institute and for reservations at the host hotel, the DoubleTree by Hilton San Antonio Downtown Hotel, will close on March 7.

This April’s Children’s Institute in San Antonio, Texas, will provide booksellers with a wide range of educational opportunities, including two focused, 45-minute talks and an hour-long education session that will feature leading experts in their fields.