As the Association of College and Research Libraries holds its national conference, Inside Higher Ed includes a piece by association president Pamela Snelson on the bright situation of the college library today. Her piece begins: "The trendiest meeting place on many college campuses these days features a coffee bar, wireless Internet zones, free entertainment and special programs, modern lounge areas and meeting rooms. And free access to books. Lots of books. . . . Far from fading away in the Age of Google, which has begun digitizing millions of books from university and other libraries, and despite the almost universal availability of vast online resources, circulation and visits at college and research libraries are on the rise. Campus librarians now answer more than 72 million reference questions each year--almost twice the attendance at college football games."  

--- 

From Marketwatch: "Richard Branson may bid 50 million pounds ($98 million) for the U.K. arm of Borders Group that is up for sale, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing a report in the trade magazine Retail Week. Branson reportedly wants to complement his 127-outlet Virgin Megastore chain with books, as U.K. rival HMV does, the report said. Local Borders management, Ottakar's founder James Heneage and Tim Waterstone also may be interested, the report said." 

---

Bookselling This Week reports on the recent Emerging Leaders meetings in New York City and Boston. BTW also profiles Food for Thought, the Amherst, Mass., bookstore collective that began as "a table of books set up inside a pre-order food co-op warehouse," according to longtime bookseller Mitch Gaslin. Textbook sales are a significant part of the store's business.

---

The Oakland Tribune profiles one of the most unusual bookstore-and-other-business combinations: a bookstore-pharmacy in Oakland, Calif., where "customers can pick up the latest bestseller at the Book Tree and a tube of toothpaste at the same time at Montclair Pharmacy."

The Book Tree was founded in 1984, when owner Joe Sullivan took over Montclair Pharmacy and opened the bookstore in part of it. His father, Bill, who still works as a pharmacist, had bought Montclair Pharmacy in 1963 with Larry Gee.

Mysteries are especially popular at the Book Tree, which has what Sullivan called "a cooperative relationship" with A Great Good Place for Books, which is across the street. "They stock some things we might not, but we have a larger backstock of books," he told the paper.

---

A piece about Orlando, Fla., that will run in the Sunday New York Times travel section includes this paragraph:

"In Thornton Park--an old pedestrian-friendly neighborhood in downtown Orlando--Urban Think! (625 East Central Boulevard, 407-650-8004; www.urbanthinkorlando.com) is the kind of independent bookstore that, sadly, is a vanishing species. It has a smart selection of children's books, hard-to-find magazines and gay fiction, and the comfy chairs make for a welcome midday break."

---

Beginning this weekend, HabitualReader.com, Walnut Creek, Calif., the readers' community that focuses on fiction, will link books reviewed on the site to the Web site or e-mail address of bricks-and-mortar bookstores. Anyone can write a review and endorse a favorite bookstore. Now booksellers can urge their customers to post reviews and link back to the bookstore's Web site or e-mail.

The site was founded three months ago by KOMENAR Publishing, which publishes fiction. "By including a link to a community bookstore with each review, we hope not only to encourage readers to shop at community bookshops, but also to increase participation at the Habitual Reader," Charlotte Cook, KOMENAR's president, said in a statement.

 

On Friday, March 23, Bookazine hosted its first Children's Spring Arrivals event at the Mediterraneo Restaurant in Bayonne, N.J. More than 30 independent booksellers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut attended, along with a few from other parts of the country.

Highlights included a presentation of Spring and Summer releases by Bookazine children's book buyer Heather Doss, the personality behind the company's program "Together with Heather" (from 1-4 p.m. on Thursdays booksellers are invited to call and ask questions and discuss children's books with Heather). Margot Sage-EL, owner of Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., called Doss's presentation "fun and informative."

Three writers were on hand to mingle and sign copies of their books: Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Greg Foley, author of Thank You Bear; and Michael Buckley, author of the Sisters Grimm series.

A tour of Bookazine's Bayonne headquarters, given by owner Rich Kallman, rounded out the extravaganza. "We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the operations," commented Sage-EL, who attended the event with Watchung bookseller Carolyn Anbar. "It gives us greater understanding of what goes into getting our order to us on time. Impressive!"

Bookazine is planning to hold a second Children's Spring Arrivals event next year. "This event really highlights the importance of our role in promoting children's books to independent booksellers," said Kathleen Willoughby, vp-marketing for Bookazine. "We believe that children's books are becoming the single most important category to help independent booksellers thrive during the critical holiday season, and throughout the year."

This morning on the Today Show, Florence Falk shows up solo to discuss On My Own: The Art of Being a Woman Alone (Harmony, $23, 9781400098101/1400098106).

---

Tonight on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author of The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780060892586/0060892587).

---

Today on All Things Considered: Christopher Moore, author of You Suck: A Love Story (Morrow, $21.95, 9780060590291/0060590297) and Dirty Job (Harper Paperbacks, $13.95, 9780060590284/0060590289), which is now out in paperback.

---

Tomorrow QVC's In the Kitchen with Bob features Dede Wilson on behalf of The Bon Appetit Cookbook (Wiley, $34.95, 9780764596865/0764596861).

---

Monday morning on the Today Show: Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals (Running Press, $17.95, 9780762430758/0762430753). 

---

Monday on Oprah: Rev Run and his family will promote the third season of their reality show, Run's House--as well as Rev Run's Words of Wisdom: Daily Affirmations of Faith (Amistad, $19.95, 9780061144875/0061144878).

 

The winners of the 2007 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards, voted by the owners and staff of American Booksellers Association bookstores "recognizing those titles independent booksellers most enjoyed handselling during the past year," are:

• Adult Fiction: Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen (Algonquin)
• Adult Nonfiction: I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron (Knopf)
• Children's Literature: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Knopf)
• Children's Illustrated: Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paul Kahumbu; photos by Peter Greste (Scholastic)
  

The winners will be honored at ABA's annual Celebration of Bookselling on Thursday, May 31, at Hotel ABA (the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge) in Brooklyn, N.Y., an event open to all BEA attendees.

--- 

Finalists for the Hugo Awards are listed online. Winners will be announced during the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, on September 1.

Yesterday's story about the Extraordinary Bookstore, which has opened a second store near a Barnes & Noble, contained an extraordinary feat of levitation: we placed the store in Rochester, N.Y., but it's actually in Rochester, Minn. The original story ran in the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

--- 

Because the link didn't work, we're running this item again in its entirety--sort of like a tape loop:

Kay Callison Bonetti, director of the American Audio Prose Library, Columbia, Mo., notes that her conversation with Larry Brown included in Conversations with American Novelists (University of Missouri Press), mentioned on Wednesday by Karl Pohrt in his dispatch from the South Awareness tour, is, like the rest of the book, based on recorded interviews Bonetti made that are available from the American Audio Prose Library. Go to americanaudioprose.org for information about the original interview, Larry Brown Interview with Kay Bonetti, which was recorded in 1995.

Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum, Ann Arbor, Mich., concludes his account of the South Awareness tour in honor of the late Larry Brown and his new novel, A Miracle of Catfish (Algonquin).


(Afternoon of) March 24 and March 25

We hit the Oxford Sonic Drive-In for a late lunch. I opt to sample the Sonic's version of those standard traditional Southern culinary treats popcorn chicken and fries.

At 3 p.m., there is a panel at the Conference for the Book with Lynn Hewlett, from the Taylor Grocery, Mary Annie Brown, Larry's wife, and Billie Ray Brown, his son. I was worried that this would be emotionally wrenching, but the session is filled with laughter. The vibe is celebratory.

The scholar Charles Reagan Wilson skillfully moderates the panel. Lynn, Larry's pal since high school, describes various hijinks he and Larry pulled during their youth. "I always looked forward to seein' him," he tells us. "Larry was a doggone good fellow!" Regarding Brown's writing career, Hewlett says, "I couldn't believe it that he could think all that stuff up. You could never tell what he was going to do."

Charles Reagan Wilson asks Billie Ray how he felt when he learned that his dad was writing a book about him. "I was excited!" says Billie Ray. He is a sweet, shy man.

I could listen to these folks talk all day. Because they speak differently from what I'm used to, I find I am much more attentive to the rhythms of their speech. I suppose this is true for anyone outside their own linguistic pool. A Frenchwoman I knew, who spoke excellent British-inflected English, once told me that she loved to listen to Midwestern Americans speak, because the language sounded so musical to her.

Charles ends by asking Mary Annie, Larry's widow, how she would like her grandchildren to remember her husband. "I want my grandchildren to know his bravery and his passion," she says. "I want them to know that he loved his family and he loved his friends."

This is a very powerful moment, and it resonates through the auditorium. Mary Annie's eloquent witness is a wonderful gift to her children and to the rest of us here today.

---

We bid Oxford adieu and drive back north to Memphis. After we check into a hotel near the airport, we take a taxi into town for dinner. The driver drops us off in an alley near the Peabody Hotel, scene of various sexual shenanigans in The Rabbit Factory. We are here for a barbecue dinner at the Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs restaurant. The alley is filled with people waiting to eat here, and it is an hour before we are seated.

Eating barbecue is a primal, primitive experience, especially when you are very hungry. You pick the ribs up in your hands and gnaw the meat off the bones. The meat is greasy with barbecue sauce, and invariably some of it remains on your hands and the lower part of your face. I feel I should hose myself down after this fine dinner.

We wander down to Beale Street, which is a cacophony of neon, music and people milling about. The road is closed to traffic, and a young acrobat cartwheels down the center of the street for an entire city block. The spectacle of this place is too much for me. I'm tired and I just want to get horizontal as soon as possible.

On our way back to the hotel, we pass a terrible auto accident. A car is upside down in one of the highway lanes, its roof and windows crushed. A woman is sitting in the road, weeping and bleeding. Medical people and firemen lean down to speak to her.

"This is a Larry Brown moment," Craig says.

March 25

We wake up early to catch our 8:25 a.m. flight back to Michigan. I'm thinking about what the musician Jim Dickinson told everyone Thursday afternoon during the Thacker Mountain Radio Show. He said that Bob Dylan told him he'd read every word Larry Brown had written.

It makes complete sense to me that Bob Dylan would hold Larry Brown in high regard. Both men are American originals. They speak the truth about our experience in this country today, and they both posses a sharp awareness of what's out there waiting for all of us at the dark end of the street.

So long for now, but I'll be coming back soon.

[Many thanks to Karl Pohrt!]

The bookstore Web siteseeing tour bus occasionally swerves down unexpected byways. This happened on a recent trip to the digital archives of the New York Times.

What I found in the past was an odd reason for momentary hope, a reminder that to some extent this has been an industry in which the sky is perpetually falling.

A little time travel can do wonders for your perspective.

Eighty years ago, a new menace appeared in the world of books. The February 10, 1927 edition of the Times reported that the Literary Guild planned to offer subscribers home delivery of a dozen books per year for $18. It was encountering industry resistance and "charged that the opposition arose because the guild was able to offer books at a lower price than book stores sell them for. . . .  The guild hopes not to antagonize the publisher and the bookseller, but to increase the business of both by winning for them a new and larger public."

Could this also be the 80th anniversary of that ever-elusive yet never-ending quest for a "new and larger" reading public?

On February 11, Ellis W. Meyers, executive secretary of the American Booksellers Association, spoke to the Times about industry concerns regarding the Literary Guild's unfair advantage in its focus on bestsellers: "According to Mr. Meyers, the booksellers' association informed the guild that the dealers were compelled to supply the public with 10,000 new volumes a year and to keep on hand 250,000 standard and classic works. . . . 'Publishers,' said Mr. Meyers, 'get out between 200 and 300 books a year, including some for which there is little demand. The expense of publishing the latter is borne by the best sellers. Take away the best sellers, as the guild would do, and the publishers would be left with the unproductive end of the business on their hands.'"

The March 4, 1927 edition of the Times reported that tensions were mounting to the point where some booksellers had announced they would not place publisher orders for the Literary Guild's first selection, Anthony Comstock, Roundsman of the Lord by Heywood Broun and Margaret Leech.

Two years later, at the 1929 ABA convention in Boston, the book club issue was still a prime concern. On May 15, the Times carried an article in which E.P. Dutton & Co. president John Macrae "urged members of the American Booksellers Association, in convention here, to demand that publishers give them a discount equal to that allowed the book clubs. He told the booksellers that they had the 'economic power' to make their demand effective. The proposal was suggested as a remedy for a reported depression in the retail book trade."

Dr. Robert E. Rogers, a literature professor at MIT, also spoke at the convention. According to the Times, he warned that book clubs "were threatening the last stronghold of individuality by establishing 'a censorship of snobbishness' . . . These are not the best books. . . . But the thing will grow. The American public is so used to standardization that there is no end to its possibilities."

Rogers offered a rural analogy to help save book dealers: "'Hoe your own row,' he said. 'Build up your own business. If people want book clubs, they will prosper. If they don't they will peter out. There is nothing you can do about them. My advice is to let them alone and put more creative ideas, vision and acumen into developing your own industry.'"

Some day, Professor Rogers warned, "'the logical end would be reached with the formation of the 'non-literary guild for the worst book of the month--and then perhaps the American people will wake up.'"

The Times also reported that a "spirited discussion and a premature ballot at today's session . . . revealed the existence of two strong factions, one favoring open warfare against the monthly book clubs and the other counseling peace and possible union among all the branches of the book business."

ABA president Arthur Brentano Jr. said that the association would offer several resolutions, including one formally putting the ABA "on record" as being "opposed to book clubs as unfair competitors" and urging "publishers to join with small-town booksellers in an advertising campaign to meet the competition of the book clubs."

In response, Literary Guild president Harold Guinzburg said "he believed that the book club method of merchandising had taken some trade from the bookstores, but added, 'how many new readers they have created it is impossible to say.'"

This year Literary Guild celebrates its 80th anniversary. Are you still worried?--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)