Awards

Voting is now open to the owners and staff at all ABA member bookstores for the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards, reflecting the spirit of independent bookstores and the IndieBound movement.

Tobias Wolff Wins Story Prize Tobias Wolff was named the winner of the Story Prize for his collection Our Story Begins (Knopf) at a ceremony at New York's New School Tishman Auditorium on Wednesday night, March 4. In his acceptance speech, Wolff praised the other two finalists Jhumpa Lahiri (Unaccustomed Earth, Knopf) and Joe Meno (Demons in the Spring, Akashic Books). The event featured all three authors reading from their collections and discussing their work with Larry Dark, director of The Story Prize.

The American Booksellers Association has been named to the 2009 Associations Advance America Honor Roll, a national awards competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Center for Association Leadership in Washington, D.C. ABA was honored for IndieBound, the community-oriented movement, launched in May 2008, which brings together booksellers, readers, indie retailers, local business alliances, and anyone else with a passionate belief that healthy local economies help communities thrive.

GLIBA Awards Six Buy Local Grants The Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA) has announced the recipients of Buy Local grants ranging from $100 to $500 and underwritten by the sponsorship of Bookazine. The six recipients are:

New categories, new selection process highlight successor to Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

On Monday, January 26, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of its Caldecott and Newbery medals and other awards for the best children's and young adult literature at its Midwinter Meeting in Denver. Among this year's winners were: JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, HarperCollins Children's Books NEWBERY HONOR BOOKS

The Women's National Book Association has announced the nominees for its 2009 Pannell Awards. Established in 1981 to honor Lucile Micheels Pannell, the awards recognize retail bookstores that excel at inspiring young people's interest in books and reading.

Co-optimize and Co-op Advertising Solutions Announce Merger On January 21, Co-optimize, LLC and Co-op Advertising Solutions, LLC announced that they were joining forces and merging business operations. The combined company, Co-op Solutions, LLC, will offer co-op services featuring two divisions, Co-optimize Full Service and Co-optimize Online.

National Jewish Book Award Winners Announced On January 14, the National Jewish Book Council announced the winners of the 2008 National Jewish Book Awards to be honored on March 5 at a ceremony at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan. The winners include: Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir: Marie Syrkin: Values Beyond the Self by Carole S. Kessner (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England)

Publishers Weekly is seeking nominations for its Bookseller and Sales Rep of the Year to be honored in May at BookExpo America in New York City. Nominees for the Bookseller of the Year Award must operate a professional storefront retail bookstore in the U.S. and should excel in buying and vendor relations, marketing, handselling, customer care, community involvement, management-employee relations, merchandising, and business operations.