Reading Promotion Partners Meet in Washington for Idea Exchange

The Center for the Book

On Tuesday, March 8, representatives from more than 40 organizations, including ABA, braved the snow to gather in Washington, D.C., for the annual "Idea Exchange" for the Center for the Book's National Reading Promotion Partners. The Center for the Book was established in 1977 to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy.

According to John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book, "it was a good meeting. The purpose is to exchange good ideas about promoting reading.... I was very pleased with [this year's] meeting."

At the meeting, ABA's Director of Marketing, Jill Perlstein, reported on the association's mission to encourage reading. Perlstein described ABA's support of the Association of American Publishers' (AAP) Get Caught Reading campaign; The Children's Book Council's (CBC) Children's Book Week; industry observances of National Poetry Month and Small Press Month, along with other celebrations; and the overall scope of how the Book Sense marketing program works to raise awareness of independent bookstores and the diversity of book titles.

In an effort to educate the participants on the valuable information to be gained from independent booksellers, Perlstein distributed samples of the latest Book Sense Picks list, the Children's Picks list, and the Poetry Top Ten list. An offer was made to the group to help match independent bookstores with local literacy groups and to work on a larger scale with national groups on programs designed to encourage reading.

Booksellers interested in reviewing the list of reading promotion partners and learning more about the vast assortment of literary events and projects are encouraged to visit the Center for the Book's website at http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook [1].