Bookseller Relief Effort Moves to Phase Two

The second phase of the Bookseller Relief Fund (BRF) effort, established by the American Booksellers Association in response to the devastation wrought by this season's hurricanes, is now underway. Under Phase Two, a subcommittee of the Bookseller Relief Fund Board will consider more expansive requests for assistance from the owners of bookstores within federally declared disaster areas. Booksellers interested in filing a request for assistance under Phase Two should contact ABA Director of Special Projects David Walker at davidw@bookweb.org or at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6612.

In September, ABA established the BRF as a permanent entity to assist booksellers who are the victims of emergency situations. However, recognizing the need to move as quickly and as expeditiously as possible to provide immediate assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the BRF Board established a two-phase relief process.

Under Phase One of the relief effort, more than 40 owners and employees of bookstores in the disaster areas left in the wakes of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have already received a $500 check to help cover the cost of basic needs such as food, housing, and transportation. The deadline for Phase One grants, which were available to all booksellers in the disaster areas, who worked 25 hours or more a week in a retail bookselling entity and who were no longer receiving a paycheck from the store due the storm, was October 15.

Serving on the BRF Board are past ABA presidents, including Ann Christophersen, Neal Coonerty, Avin Mark Domnitz, Joyce Meskis, Chuck Robinson, J. Rhett Jackson, Gail See, Joan Ripley, and Dick Noyes. Phase Two subcommittee members are Christophersen, Coonerty, and Ripley. Current ABA President Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in Miami, Florida, serves as chair of the Board.

To date, the BRF has raised close to $150,000, with contributions coming from individuals, bookstores, regional booksellers associations, publishers, distributors, and wholesalers, and others in the industry.

For more about the BRF, and to learn how to contribute, go to www.bookweb.org/read/8092.