BEA Previews: Issues and Trends from the ABA

A selection of the more newsy sessions sponsored by the American Booksellers Association during the Day of Education on Tuesday, May 25, at the Javits Center follows below. We'll have a roundup of the nuts-and-bolts bookseller sessions tomorrow.

From 10:15 to 11:45 a.m., Verso Digital's Jack McKeown offers results from a new survey of consumers' book-buying behavior, including attitudes toward e-readers and digital books. This is a followup to the detailed information he presented at the Winter Institute in San Jose.

At the same time, a panel cosponsored by the Association of Booksellers for Children, will define "tween" readers and discuss their issues--how to navigate content, interact with parents and teachers, how and where to shelve books for them and more. Moderated by the ABC's Kristen McLean. Panelists include Stephanie Anderson of WORD, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Liz Szabla of Feiwel and Friends.

From 12:45 to 2:15 p.m., Tom Turvey, director of strategic partnerships at Google, will discuss Google Editions, the company's digital book program that launches this summer and will include opportunities for booksellers to participate.

At the same time, ABA CEO Oren Teicher and panelists offer an update on the association's advocacy issues, with an emphasis on the campaign at the state level to have online retailers collect sales tax.

From 2:30 to 4 p.m., a panel called the New Reality discusses alternative business models for independent bookstores, "from selling children's clothes and creating stores within stores to offering local delivery." Moderated by ABA COO Len Vlahos, the panel includes Carole Horne, Harvard Bookstore, Cambridge, Mass.; Chris Morrow, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt.; and Chuck Robinson, Village Books, Bellingham, Wash.

 

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