Industry News

Often booksellers are called to do more than sell books. They sometimes have to protect them, as well as the rights of readers. One independent bookseller that has historically been a stalwart protector of freedom of expression is San Francisco's inimitable City Lights Bookstore, which is celebrating its golden anniversary this month.

On Monday, June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6 - 3 to uphold the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires public libraries seeking government subsidies to install filtering software to block materials considered obscene, child pornography, or "harmful to minors." The American Library Association (ALA) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had challenged the law, contending that it violated the First Amendment. "We are disappointed with [the decision]," said Jenner & Block attorney Theresa Chmara, counsel for ALA.

On the Eve of Massive Bookselling Weekend Booksellers Encouraged to Report to Book Sense Bestseller List

As consumer expectation continues to build amid a growing barrage of media coverage, independent booksellers nationwide finalized last-minute details for special Harry Potter events in anticipation of 12:01 a.m. June 21 -- when copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Scholastic) officially go on sale.

On June 18, Oprah Winfrey announced the first selection for her revived Oprah's Book Club. The book, which had previously been identified by only an ordering ISBN, is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. In the Oprah audience were 10 staff members of Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois. They were able to hear Winfrey declare Anderson's "the best independent bookstore in the country" and to see her air a video clip taped in the store.

New York's Coliseum Books is back. On Tuesday, June 17, the city's largest independent bookstore reopened, across from the New York Public Library and Bryant Park.

On Wednesday, June 18, the American Booksellers Association sent an e-mail to all members who had pre-registered for this year's BookExpo America, members of the ABA Board of Directors and Booksellers Advisory Council, and attendees at ABA's all-day education program on Thursday, May 29, at BEA, to seek their input in an effort to improve ABA programming at future shows.

By Laura Hansen

Here, Laura Hansen, owner/manager of Bookin' It in Little Falls, Minnesota, shares her recent presentation to a local business group about the benefits to her store from working cooperatively with other booksellers to get the word out about their businesses and the availability of Book Sense gift certificates.

Booksellers exhibiting The History Channel/Hardcover History in-store display should be on the lookout for the next set of bookmarks featuring Fodor's titles that complement The History Channel's Hit the Road Week, to air July 14 - 18. The bookmarks, included in the June white box mailing, feature Fodor's The Thirteen Colonies and Fodor's Old West.

Two years ago, inspired by the Book Sense 76, the owners of Inkwood Books in Tampa, Florida, put all of the month's 76 titles on sale during the week of July 4 to celebrate the Independence Day holiday and to bring attention to their store as an independent business.

Support for the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) within the book, library, and publishing industry continues to grow.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is asking Wisconsin independent booksellers to sign a letter that will be sent to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the House Judiciary Committee chair, regarding the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157). In the letter, the booksellers express their support for the Act and also request a meeting with the congressman.

Here's a look at a new feature on the Bookselling This Week homepage, as well as a reminder about some BTW and BookWeb.org features that you may not know about.

Bookstore sales in April were soft, though the decline was not as sharp as it had been in the previous two months. April sales of $984 million were 5.7 percent lower than the $1,043 million realized in April of last year.

Overall retail sales of $308 billion for April 2003 were 3.7 percent ahead of the $297 billion for the previous year.

April is the 15th month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

For this year's BookExpo America, BEA management, together with ABA, reserved the overwhelming majority of the Radisson Wilshire Plaza's rooms at a great rate, thereby making the "Hotel California" (as it was dubbed) the exclusive hotel for independent booksellers attending the Los Angeles convention. And, much as it was with the eponymous Eagles' song, the Hotel California was a smash hit.

Henry Berliner, owner of The Foundry Bookstore in Connecticut, summarized one of the primary struggles for independent bookstores in a sentence: "Independents used to have 30 percent of book sales and the chains had 15; now the chains have the 30 percent." The intensification of competition and his wish to retire prompted Berliner to decide to close the 29-year-old bookstore, where he started out as a clerk a year after the store opened. The Foundry will close its doors on June 30.