News - Regional

Building on the success of last May's Shop Talk, the first held in central New York State, Colgate Bookstore and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) have announced that they will be holding a Shop Talk at Colgate Bookstore in Hamilton, New York, on August 10, from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. "At the end of the last Shop Talk, we asked [the attendees] if they would like more Shop Talks, and an overwhelming number of people said yes," said Rob Stahl, general book manager at Colgate Bookstore.

Finalists for Great Lakes Book Awards Announced

On July 20, the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) announced the finalists for the 2004 Great Lakes Book Awards. The awards will be presented Friday, October 8, at a luncheon during the GLBA Fall Trade Show in Dearborn, Michigan. The winners will be announced in late August.

The finalists in the Fiction category are:

On Tuesday, May 18, the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) and New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) held a joint Shop Talk at the Holiday Inn Carrier Circle in East Syracuse, New York, from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The event was the brainchild of Rob Stahl of Colgate Bookstore in Hamilton, New York, who approached NEBA and NAIBA about facilitating a meeting for the booksellers of central New York, who often must travel long distances to make it to regional meetings.

On Wednesday, May 5, ABA's winter/spring Booksellers Forum tour concluded in Pittsboro, North Carolina, with a program that was postponed in January due to inclement weather. ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher conducted the forum, which was held in conjunction with the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) at McIntyre's Fine Books at Fearrington Village. Topics at the forum ranged from the Book Sense Gift Card Program to the BookSense.com Co-op Reimbursement Program to the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP).

The New England (NEBA) and New Atlantic Booksellers (NAIBA) associations will be holding a Shop Talk at the Holiday Inn Carrier Circle in East Syracuse, New York, on Tuesday, May 18, from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The regional associations are co-sponsoring the event in an area in central New York State where independent booksellers -- many of whom are members of NEBA or NAIBA or both -- have a tough time attending regional meetings due to the travel distances.

ABA's winter/spring Booksellers Forum tour concludes in Pittsboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday, May 5, with a program that was postponed in January due to inclement weather. ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher will conduct the forum, held in conjunction with the Southeast Booksellers Association, at McIntyre's Fine Books at Fearrington Village (near Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill).

The American Booksellers Association, in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA), held a Booksellers Forum at the National Yiddish Book Center on the grounds of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, on Thursday, April 22. The forum, the second of the season in the New England area, followed the NEBA meetings and a meeting of the New England Children's Bookselling Advisory Council (NECBA).

On Sunday, April 25, at the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's (NAIBA) Spring Workshop in Philadelphia, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz discussed the 2003 ABACUS study and how bookstore owners and managers can use the results to make better operational decisions. The session kicked off a full day of NAIBA programming at the Sheraton Society Hill.

At this weekend's New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's (NAIBA) Spring Workshop in Philadelphia, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz will discuss the 2003 ABACUS study and how bookstore owners and managers can use the results to make better operational decisions. Scheduled from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 25, the session will begin a full day of NAIBA programming at the Sheraton Society Hill.

Approximately 20 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum, held in conjunction with the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) on Wednesday, April 14, at ABA's offices in Tarrytown, New York. ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher hosted the forum, with ABA Board member John Bennett of Bennett Books in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and other ABA staff members in attendance.

The American Booksellers Association wants to remind booksellers that they are invited to attend a Booksellers Forum to be held in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) in Amherst, Massachusetts, on Thursday, April 22. The second ABA/NEBA forum of the season will be held at the National Yiddish Book Center on the grounds of Hampshire College and will begin at approximately 3:15 p.m., at the conclusion of NEBA meetings.

With about 10 years in the bookselling and publishing industry, Rob Stahl, the general manager of Colgate Bookstore in Hamilton, New York, understands the value of regional booksellers getting together to discuss business issues. He also knows that, in central New York State, independent bookstores -- many of whom are either members of the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) or the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), or both -- have a tough time attending NAIBA's or NEBA's regional meetings due to the travel distances.

ABA wants to remind booksellers that they are invited to an open forum at the association's offices in Tarrytown, New York, on Wednesday, April 14. The day's program runs from 11:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. and is being held in conjunction with the New Atlantic Booksellers Association. On the agenda are a Book Sense gift card demonstration, the open forum, and one-to-one ABACUS tutorials with ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz.

At the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's (NAIBA) Spring Workshop, to be held in Philadelphia on Sunday, April 25, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz will lead a session about the 2003 ABACUS study results and how they can be used by bookstore owners and managers to make better operational decisions. The session, from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., will begin a full day of NAIBA programming at the Sheraton Society Hill.

More than 20 people attended an ABA Booksellers Forum, held in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) on Tuesday, March 30, at Emmis Books in Cincinnati, Ohio. The forum -- the second to be held in the Great Lakes region this season (the first was on January 15 in Chicago) -- was conducted by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher, with ABA President Ann Christophersen of Women & Children First in Chicago and Board member Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.