News - Regional

In a new grassroots effort to support independent booksellers, Larry Portzline, a part-time teacher, has developed the concept of "Bookstore Tourism," a term he coined (and trademarked). The goal of Bookstore Tourism, according to Portzline's Web site (www.bookstoretourism.com), is "to encourage book-lovers across the United States to organize day-trips to cities and towns with interesting, fun, and unique bookstores that folks in their own communities may not be able to visit regularly."

Books and all things literary -- including bookstores -- were celebrated at book fairs on the East and West coasts on Saturday, July 19. The Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) hosted its eighth annual Books By the Bay Festival, held in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens. And QBR: The Black Book Review sponsored the Fifth Annual Harlem Book Fair. The Harlem Book Fair was held on 135th Street, which was closed to cars for the well-attended fair.

The fall regional booksellers association trade show season will begin with the Mid-South show, to be held on September 4 - 7 in Austin, Texas. Throughout September and October, there will be eight more shows as well as the Southern California Booksellers Association's Authors Feast and Fall Seminars. Bookselling This Week will provide complete pre- and post-show coverage for all of the events. Look for BTW's pre-show coverage to begin in the coming weeks. Here is a list of the fall shows:

This fall, Southeasterners will be able to tune into author readings hosted at independent bookstores all over the region. Starting October 1, the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) will be the presenting sponsor of The Spoken Word, a series broadcast by Atlanta's public radio station, WABE. The Spoken Word features author readings and talks and performances about literature and the arts that are recorded around the Southeast.

The following column by Amy Stewart, author of The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms, forthcoming from Algonquin Books (January 2004), originally appeared in the May 8 edition of Humboldt County, California's North Coast Journal.

In an unfortunate illustration of taxing Peter to pay Paul, on May 1, members of the Rhode Island Senate proposed an additional one percent sales tax on all books sold in Rhode Island by any retailer. According to the amendment offered by State Senators Rhoda Perry, Frank Ciccone, and Juan Pichardo, the tax generated would be used by cities and towns exclusively for free public libraries.

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) recently sent a petition on behalf of its members to all U.S. congressional representatives from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington urging support of H.R. 1157, the Freedom to Read Information Act, which would repeal Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

The 2003 ABA Booksellers Forum series came to a close on May 1 at the UConn Co-op, in Storrs, Connecticut. The forum, organized in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA), followed a meeting of the New England Children's Booksellers Association. The ABA/NEBA forum was the twelfth forum of 2003. Since the launch of the forum program in January 1998, ABA has hosted over 70 meetings with member booksellers across the country.

On May 8, by a 23 to 15 vote, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 103, which would clarify existing California sales tax laws and require retailers with bricks-and-mortar stores or warehouses in California to charge sales tax for purchases made online by California residents. The bill, S.B. 103, was introduced by Senator Deirdre Alpert (D-San Diego) in late January. The bill now goes to the State Assembly.