News from SIBA

Book news from NPR & NYT:

March 10, 2006: SIBA Seeks Emerging Leaders The first Emerging Leaders conversation took place at The Winter Institute where over 50 booksellers gathered to talk about why the got into book selling and the obstacle that might prevent them from remaining in the book industry...

January 23, 2006: SEBA becomes SIBA with a new look On January 1st, 2006 the Southeast Booksellers Association—one of the largest regional trade association for independent booksellers in the country, officially changed its name to The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). The change reflects an increased commitment towards activism and advocacy for the independent bookstore in the South.

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News from Book Sense:
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March 09, 2006 - Patriot Act Passes Congress; Bush Signs Bill On Tuesday, March 7, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 280 - 138 to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, including a four-year extension of Section 215, which authorizes searches of bookstore and library records. On Thursday, March 9, President Bush signed the bill into law. In response to the House vote, the sponsors for the Campaign for Reader Privacy announced that, though the Patriot Act had been improved, they will continue to work with key members of Congress to restore the protections for reader privacy.

March 09, 2006 - Letter to Booksellers From Oren Teicher Re Patriot Act PassageWith the House and Senate both voting for the USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill, and President Bush's signature on the legislation a fait accompli, this week, ABA COO Oren Teicher wrote a letter to update booksellers regarding the revised Patriot Act and to thank them for their efforts. In addition, ABA is providing booksellers with a PDF that explains to customers the outcome of the Patriot Act reauthorization and also thanks customers for their participation in the Campaign for Reader Privacy.

March 09, 2006 - BookExpo America Announces '06 Speaker Program On Wednesday, March 8, BookExpo America announced the speakers for its events program, which includes the popular Author Breakfasts and Luncheon. With the convention's first return to Washington, D.C., in over 20 years, the speakers this year include a healthy dose of political pundits.


March 07, 2006 - Iowa Bookstores Offer Taste of Local Flavor Travelers like to sample the local cuisine, enjoy the regional geography ... why not visit the local independent bookstore? That's what people at the Iowa Tourism Office thought, so the Iowa tourism website now features a list of the independent bookstores all around the state.

March 07, 2006 -
Serving the Hispanic/Latino Book Market Bookseller Dennis O. Evans has worked intermittently at Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the past 10 years, and has served as the store's General Manager since July, 2002. Here, he discusses how Sam Weller's created a marketing and business strategy to profit from Salt Lake's burgeoning Hispanic/Latino market and the ways in which other booksellers can, too.


March 06, 2006 - McMurtry Thanks Booksellers at the Academy Awards At last night's 78th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, several of the Oscar-winning films were based on books -- Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha, Capote, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Constant Gardener, and Tsotsi. In his acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay, Larry McMurtry acknowledged the role of books in film, and he offered a paean to "all the booksellers of the world."


March 06, 2006 - Senate Approves Patriot Act Reauthorization After months of intense debate, on Thursday, March 2, the Senate voted 89 - 10 to reauthorize the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, including a four-year extension of Section 215, which authorizes searches of bookstore and library records.

February 09, 2006 -Amazon.com: It's Feasible for Online Retailers to Collect Sales Tax On Wednesday, February 8, representatives from Amazon.com and eBay Inc. told the U.S. House of Representative's Small Business Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight that collecting sales tax on online purchases is within the industry's capabilities.

February 09, 2006 -2006 ABACUS Data-Gathering Begins -- 2005 ABACUS Review Online Looking to build on the success of last year's ABACUS study, this week the American Booksellers Association started collecting data from member booksellers for the 2006 ABACUS study through a newly designed and easier-to-use Web form. Coinciding with the launch of the new survey, ABA has made available online to member booksellers the 2005 ABACUS Review.

February 09, 2006 -March Notables Fliers & Shelf-Talkers Online The PDF files of the March Book Sense Notables fliers and shelf-talkers, featuring booksellers' comments, are now available on BookWeb's Picks page, along with the full list of March Book Sense Picks titles.

News from ABFFE

January 26, 2006 - CRP Urges Congress to Make "Critical Changes" to Patriot Act With the deadline for the House and Senate votes on the Patriot Act reauthorization looming, the push to ensure that the reauthorized USA Patriot Act protects readers' right to privacy has begun. On Tuesday, January 24, the Campaign for Reader Privacy faxed Congressional members and urged them to make certain that the reauthorized version of Section 215 safeguards the rights of readers, and on Thursday, January 26, ABA COO Oren Teicher wrote a letter to ABA member booksellers asking them to let their House and Senate members know that they support the reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in June.

January 11, 2006 - Thanks Due to Senators Who Supported Patriot Act Extension With the debate over the USA Patriot Act conference report to intensify in the next couple of weeks, the sponsors of the Campaign for Reader Privacy are asking their constituents to thank the senators who supported a temporary extension of the act to allow time to ensure that the final bill protects readers' rights to privacy.

January 04, 2006 - 'Twas the Season for Congressional Patriot Games The week leading up to Christmas saw a flurry of activity in Congress as lawmakers fought over reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, which was set to expire at the end of the year. The battle was set when members of the House approved a conference committee report that a bipartisan group of U.S. senators believes does not do enough to ensure the privacy rights of U.S. citizens. Political maneuvering went down to the wire, but the result was a major victory for proponents of readers' privacy rights. A final reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act was postponed to give Congress time to include provisions to protect readers' rights.

December 23, 2005 - And Then There Was One: Patriot Act Showdown Concludes With Five-Week Extension Setting the stage for what is sure to be a month of intense and heated debate this January, the political gamesmanship of the past several weeks over the Patriot Act conference report finally concluded yesterday, but not without one final twist. In a near-empty chamber, the Senate by unanimous consent approved the U.S. House of Representative's last-minute changes to the Patriot Act reauthorization bill -- reducing the Patriot Act extension from six months to five weeks.

December 22, 2005 - Reader Privacy Victory Sends Patriot Act Fight Into Overtime In a major victory for proponents of readers' privacy rights, late Wednesday night, the efforts of a bipartisan group of U.S. senators postponed a final reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, fashioning a compromise that would extend the Act for six months and give Congress time to include provisions to protect readers' rights. However, less than 24 hours later, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the compromise, passing an extension that would end on February 3, 2006

Other Industry News

December 10, 2005 - Who is Your Favorite Children's Bookseller The Women's National Book Association wants to know about bookstores in the United States that excel at creatively bringing books and children together and inspiring children's interest in books and reading.
WNBA will present the Lucile Micheels Pannell Award to two bookstores (one general and one children's bookstore) at Book Expo America. Each recipient will receive a check for $1000 plus a framed piece of original art by a children's book illustrator.