The Small Business Administration (SBA) has ignored the demand of the American Booksellers Association and our small business allies to dump Amazon and other massive corporate sponsors as sponsors of National Small Business Week. Instead, SBA re-upped its partnership with Amazon, at the Silver Level as a cosponsor of National Small Business Week. (No, this is not an April Fools' joke.) ABA continues to ask members to post to social media asking SBA to âDump Amazonâ and other large corporate sponsors. Ahead of the possible spring hearing on the Credit Card Competition Act, we are once again asking for testimonials on how credit card processing (âswipeâ) fees have impacted your business. Please tell us about your experience by April 19 by emailing [email protected]. American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) spoke to the Florida Freedom to Read Project about their ongoing advocacy against book censorship in Florida, which helped lead to concessions in the Florida legislature in the most recent legislative session. We have also been offering support to stores facing harassment and threats for hosting drag storytime events, including one store whose event was forced to be canceled last week due to threats of violence. The previous weekend, two drag storytimes at library events were canceled due to bomb threats in Lancaster, PA, and Reading, MA. We will be offering guidance and support in BTW next week on best practices for safety during these events. If you are planning a drag storytime, reach out to [email protected] for support as early in the process as possible. |
