ABA Urges Course Reversal on Tariffs ABA CEO Allison Hill sent members an email regarding the 2025 tariffs and their potential impact on independent bookstores. She discussed the newly implemented reciprocal tariffs by the Trump Administration and their potential to cause instability in consumer confidence, increase prices for everyday items, and affect book production, shipping costs, shopping bags, and sidelines. She included an overview of the tariffs written by ABA’s Director of Advocacy, Dave Grogan. ABA also created language members can use to contact their lawmakers to convey how these tariffs will hurt small businesses and the economy! Free Expression Legislation Alerts Arkansas: Funding for the Arkansas State Library is under threat. Arkansans, let lawmakers know you won’t stand for it. Florida: In a setback, HB 1539, a book ban bill that will see literature treated like pornography and somehow worsen the book ban situation in Florida, passed the Education Administration subcommittee of the House Education Committee. It’s not over yet, and we will fight it every step of the way, including if and when it gets a floor vote and makes it to the Senate. Watch this space for more. New Hampshire: New polling shows how unpopular New Hampshire’s HB 324’s proposals are with Granite Staters, with a persuasive majority rejecting state control over curation and criminalization of librarians. Tell the New Hampshire Senate to let the bill die in committee and, if necessary, tell the Governor to veto the bill using EveryLibrary’s Action Center. (And pass it on to your customers!)
Rhode Island: ABFE supports the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Act, H 5726 and S 238, which ensure curation decisions will be kept in the hands of librarians and communities — not political pressure groups — for years to come. Despite an outpouring of support (and very little opposition), the bills seem to be stuck for the moment. Watch this space for ways to tell Rhode Island lawmakers you’re watching and won’t let the bill die on the vine. ABA and SIBA Event: Supporting Trans, Nonbinary, Intersex, and Gender-Nonconforming Staff and Community On April 23 at 12:00 pm ET, Associate Director of ABFE Philomena Polefrone will join ER Anderson (Charis Circle) and Candice Huber (SIBA, Tubby & Coo’s Traveling Book Shop) to discuss ways to make bookstores a more supportive place for trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming folks on the team and in the community. Register now. ABA to Meet With DOJ Late last week, ABA sent an email to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in opposition to Amazon’s bid to purchase TikTok. In the letter, ABA CEO Allison Hill noted that an “Amazon takeover of TikTok would prevent a fair market, deter healthy competition and innovation, and further entrench Amazon’s monopoly power to the detriment of consumers, competition, and innovation.” In response, the DOJ requested a meeting with ABA to further discuss the letter. ABA Member Op-Ed Steve Israel, owner of Theodore’s Books in Oyster Bay, NY, and former New York Representative, has written an op-ed decrying the hundreds of books banned from the US Naval Academy. Thank you, Rep. Israel, for calling out these preposterous bans! |
