Industry News

On August 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed a Vermont federal district court decision holding a Vermont Internet law unconstitutional under both the First Amendment and the federal Commerce Clause. The law, which prohibited the distribution on the Internet of non-obscene sexually explicit materials that are defined as "harmful to minors" if they could be accessed by persons under 18, was found by the Court of Appeals to burden speech protected by the First Amendment and to not be narrowly tailored.

In a move that many believe was sparked by the overwhelming House vote to withhold funding for "sneak and peek" searches of private property under the USA Patriot Act, Attorney General John Ashcroft embarked on a nationwide tour last week to drum up support for the controversial bill. "I think it [the vote to limit sneak and peak searches] caught the Justice Department by surprise, as it did all of us," said Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

God's ways, always mysterious, are downright bewildering in Joan of Arcadia, a new CBS program premiering on September 26. Typical teenager Joan (played by Amber Tamblyn) is commanded by God, in the forms of a cute guy and a lunch lady, to get a job in a bookstore -- an independent no less. If the set has an uncanny similitude to a real bookstore, don't credit divine intervention -- the show is shot in Skylight Books, a seven-year-old bookstore in Los Angeles, not far from the studios of Hollywood.

By Richard Poling, Program Director of LIBRIS

According to a June 23, 2003, New York Times article, "Nationwide, the average cost of workers' compensation insurance has risen 50 percent in the last three years." Depending on where you are located, that percentage could actually be far greater, or possibly less. For instance, California is now in a crisis where carriers have continually adopted at least 30 percent annual increases (cumulatively over 100 percent) since before 2000.

This year's Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) Trade Show will be held from October 3 - 5 at the Oakland Convention Center/Oakland City Center Marriott, Oakland, California. Always in the forefront of positive changes in the bookselling universe, NCIBA has lined up top authors at all events and is focusing attention on the recent report regarding locally owned independents and the economic health of communities.

This fall, a documentary on the well-publicized court case in which Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store fought to protect its customers' right to privacy will be shown on regional PBS stations and will be part of a free expression panel that will be held at three of the fall regional trade shows. The Just Media Fund, an organization that helps develop media that focuses on social justice issues, produced the 27-minute film, Reading Your Rights.

In just over a week's time, this fall's regional trade show schedule will kick off with the 2003 Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA) Trade Show, held September 4 - 7 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas.

The Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) Trade Show will be held October 3 - 5 at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan. The show will feature a broad range of educational programming, author events, and games of skill and chance.

The American Booksellers Association Nominating Committee, chaired by Neal Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz, is searching for qualified candidates to serve on the ABA Board of Directors. Under ABA's bylaws, the terms of three members of the nine-member board expire each year, and at least one of the three candidates cannot have served on the current board. Board members are eligible to be elected for two three-year terms.

On Monday, August 18, Borders Group Inc. announced that it had acquired the assets of Hawley-Cooke Booksellers in Louisville, Kentucky, from owners Graham Cooke, Martha Neal Cooke, William Schuetze, and Audrey Beach Schuetze. Borders plans to shut down both Hawley-Cooke stores for a short time in early September and plans to re-open them as Borders Books & Music stores on September 13. A Borders Books & Music, currently under construction in Louisville, is also scheduled to open on the same day, and a fourth Borders opening is planned for next year.

Minority Buying Power Growing Faster Than White American's