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With substantially-reduced membership and a challenging environment to drive dues from existing members, the American Booksellers Association president Michael Tucker wrote to members about a variety of initiatives starting next February. Most significant is that the organization will expand by making used bookstores eligible for membership. They are also adding a special membership category for new stores and new members. Both used stores and new members will be charged reduced dues, as will stores with low sales volume. Tucker writes that “ABA is making these changes because we believe in the opportunities inherent for community-based, indie booksellers in this time […]

San Francisco’s Modern Times Bookstore has told customers by e-mail they are “facing a financial crisis and urgently need an influx of cash if we are going to be able to pay our bills through the summer.” They add: “We absolutely believe that it is possible to function more sustainably but we need your help right now if we are going to get to the more lucrative fall and winter months and be able to put into place the changes that will help us survive.” In business for 39 years, they say they are “one of the few remaining independent, […]

The high-profile arrival of Books & Books Westhampton Beach has been greeted by success among shoppers and browsers, but has also stirred resentment among at least some customers of the town’s other bookstore, The Open Book, located “about a dozen storefronts away.” The NYT covers the tensions, in which Open Book owner Terry Lucas “said Books & Books is on a course to put her already struggling store out of business.” Lucas also works as a librarian in Southampton, and had negotiated to sell the store to an employee early last yar though the deal was never consummated. Her store […]