BTW News Briefs

Vroman's Hill Promoted to COO & President

This week, Vroman's Bookstore announced the promotion of Allison Hill to chief operating officer and president. Hill was previously vice president and general manager of the 113-year-old bookstore. Clark Mason has been promoted to chief financial officer and controller. He had held the title of controller and corporate secretary.

Both Hill and Mason have purchased stock and are now shareholders of Vroman's Bookstore. Joel Sheldon, president of Vroman's since 1978, will continue to be involved in company's strategic decisions as its chief executive officer.

NAIBA Announces 2007 Books of the Year

On August 23, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association announced the winners of its Book of the Year Awards. The winning authors will be presented with their awards on Sunday, October 14, in Baltimore at the NAIBA Awards Banquet during the Fall Conference.

The winners are: The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud (Vintage) for Best Fiction; A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (FSG) for Best Nonfiction; Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen; Kevin Hawkes, illustrator (Candlewick) for Best Picture Book; and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic) for Best Children's Literature.

Portland Schools Receive $300K Gift From Powell's & Local Community

On Thursday, August 30, Portland, Oregon, area school libraries and classrooms are starting to receive more than 34,000 books from the Powell's Schoolbook Challenge book drive.

On November 14, 2006, Powell's partnered with Schoolhouse Supplies, to kick-off the Powell's Schoolbook Challenge. The 45-day Challenge was designed to heighten the public's awareness of the financial plight of the educational system. For every book pledge of $5.95 from an individual or business in the community, Powell's donated 10 new books to schools.

The book distribution event in August allows Portland and Beaverton school librarians and staff to select from a wide assortment of elementary picture books, classic novels, history, math, social science books, and dictionaries, reference and learning tools. The number of books allocated to each school depends on need, which is determined by the school districts and Schoolhouse Supplies. Powell's staff and 120 Schoolhouse Supplies volunteers will then box the books chosen and deliver them to individual schools.

Random House Donates $1 Million to First Book

This week, Random House, Inc., announced that it will donate $1 million dollars to First Book, the national non-profit literacy organization. The biggest single philanthropic contribution in the publisher's history will enable First Book to further its mission "to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books." Since it was established in 1992, First Book has distributed more than 50 million new books to children in more than 3,000 communities large and small across the U.S. First Book aims to build a grassroots network of lifetime readers throughout the U.S. with its future book distributions.

In addition to its corporate donation, Random House has set up a First Book Matching Gift Program for its employees. The publisher will match any individual contribution up to $2,500. The company will also match contributions to First Book from authors, illustrators, vendors, suppliers, literary agents, and booksellers to a maximum of $1,000.