Special Wi6 T-Shirts to Benefit ABFFE

At ABA’s Sixth Annual Winter Institute, booksellers can support free expression, get a memento of WI6, and honor one of our founding fathers. How is this even possible? By buying a T-shirt featuring an “enhanced” version of the classic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware to benefit the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

“We are hoping to raise a little money and provide a few laughs,” said Chris Finan, ABFFE president.

For many years at ABA conventions and then at BookExpo America, ABA and ABFFE sold merchandise featuring famous paintings that had been altered to include books. The latest offering in that tradition is a T-shirt with Washington clutching a book to his chest as his men, many of them reading, row him across the Delaware River. The $15 shirts will be sold at the ABFFE Gallery, which will also feature a selection of heavily discounted posters from past BEA and ABA conventions.

ABFFE will also be at the Winter Institute as part of the Consultation Station, which is scheduled for Friday, January 21, from 2:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Finan will answer booksellers’ questions about current censorship controversies, Banned Books Week, privacy issues, and the new ABFFE affiliate program. E-mail chris@abffe.com to schedule an appointment.