BTW News Briefs

Utah Celebrates Independents Week in a Big Way

On Tuesday, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams issued an official proclamation that July 1 – July 7 will be celebrated as Independents Week. “Salt Lake County has numerous local, independent businesses that provide jobs and a unique shopping experience that helps maintain our sense of community,” said Mayor McAdams. “I’m pleased that we’re showcasing their important contributions during Independents Week 2013.” A number of other mayors throughout the state have also recognized Independents Week in their cities and towns.

During Independents Week, Local First Utah is releasing the Utah Study Series, a statewide study by Civic Economics that shows local businesses return over four times more to the Utah economy than chain retailers and that just 10 percent more spent at local businesses would keep approximately $1.3 billion in the Utah economy each year.

Buthod Named SIBA One Book at a Time Organizer

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is welcoming Richard Buthod as the “guru” who will foster its new partnership with the One Book at a Time Literacy Program (OBAAT).

Buthod has worked for the past 35 years in the book industry, selling to school and library markets, as well as bookstores. He has brought insight into the Common Core to independent bookstores and will be leading a session on that topic at SIBA’s trade show this fall. 

The OBAAT program provides books to children in need throughout the country, based on research that shows having books at home increases the educational success of children. Several SIBA stores are testing the OBAAT program by seeking out donors and recipients for books, as well as assisting in identifying books appropriate for the program.

Amazon’s Sales Tax Affairs in U.K. Deterring Shoppers

The Bookseller reported this week that young buyers are “put off” by Amazon, due to recent press regarding its extremely low sales tax payments.

More than 70 percent of book buyers aged 16 to 24 in the U.K. said that Amazon’s tax matters deterred them from shopping with the company, and nearly 60 percent of all shoppers questioned by the Booksellers Association were in agreement.

Nearly 92 percent of responders said that action needed to be taken to support the U.K.’s main street communities; 77 percent believe that bookstores make main streets more appealing; and 68 percent said bookstores are important as places to discover books.

The survey also found that 64 percent of customers using brick-and-mortar bookstores admitted to showrooming.

LibraryReads Recommendation Program Launching This Fall

At its conference last weekend in Chicago, the American Library Association announced the fall launch of LibraryReads, a monthly list of 10 adult titles that are the most-loved among librarians and serve as titles to recommend to patrons — effectively a library “staff picks” list similar to IndieBound’s Indie Next List picks.

The program is managed by a committee of public librarians and library advocates. The American Booksellers Association is lending its “expertise and back-office support” to help LibraryReads take off. Publishers are underwriting the cost of marketing materials and online presence.

Senators Express Concerns Over Patriot Act Surveillance Programs

Twenty-six senators have sent a letter to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, asking for information about the scope of the data-collecting programs under the Patriot Act and the effectiveness of such programs in providing needed intelligence.

Organized by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the letter states, “We are concerned that by depending on secret interpretations of the Patriot Act that differed from an intuitive reading of the statute, this program essentially relied for years on a secret body of law.” The senators also stated the concern that the interpretation of the law may lead to collection of other private data, including financial and medical information.

Authors Lose Class Certification in Lawsuit Against Google

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit deemed on Monday that the decision of Judge Denny Chin of Federal District Court in Manhattan to allow authors as a class to sue Google for its book-scanning project was premature.

Chin had certified the group as a class in 2012, noting that to pursue legal recourse on an individual basis would result in identical suits and a high cost of litigation and that authors should be able to act as a group since Google treated the copyright holders as a group.

The ongoing battle began when the Authors Guild sued Google in 2005, citing copyright violation due to its book-scanning project. Judge Chin rejected a 2011 settlement of $125 million.

Hachette Acquires Hyperion Adult Imprint

Hachette Book Group is purchasing Hyperion’s adult imprint, with the sale expected to be finalized this month. The imprint comes with more than 1,000 backlist titles and several upcoming seasons’ worth of new releases. Hachette currently distributes Hyperion titles.

Ingram Integrates Hachette Livre Titles

The integration of Hachette Livre’s publishing program with Ingram’s print-on-demand print and distribution services, which was announced this week, will make thousands of titles from Bibliothèque nationale de France available in print in the U.S. and abroad.  More than 65,000 titles from the National Library of France on topics including art, literature, medicine, genealogy, and more published from the 15^th to 20^th centuries will become available.

Ingram has also announced the addition of 50,000 titles, including bestselling titles and academic content, to its MyiLibrary® e-book platform.The platform has also acquired new content from several Random House imprints and has enhanced its functionality.