American Booksellers Association

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Logo of the American Booksellers Association

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States and Canada. The ABA and its members support freedom of speech through the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, literacy, and programs that encourage reading. Many independent booksellers are concerned about the potential negative impact on free speech by giant megachains and nationwide web retailers. The concern is that publishers cater to these retailers and that control over what books, and hence what ideas, are available will ultimately rest in the hands of these few companies.[1]

Membership

The ABA's membership has varied over time:

  • 1991 - 5200 members[2]
  • 1995 - 5500 members with 7000 stores[3]
  • 1998 - 3300 members[2]
  • 2000 - 3100 members with 4000 stores[3]
  • 2001 - 2794 members[4]
  • 2002 - 2191 members[4]
  • 2005 - 1702 members,[5] "more than 90" member bookstores opened[6]
  • 2006 - 97 member bookstores opened[6]
  • 2007 - 115 member bookstores opened[7]
  • 2008 - ABA published no data
  • 2009 - 1401 members[8] with 1651 stores,[9] 40 member bookstores opened,[10] 17 of which were listed by Google as "Permanently closed" or no longer maintained a website in 2015.
  • 2010 - 1410 members, first increase in almost two decades.[8] 26 member bookstores opened,[11] 12 of which no longer maintained a website in 2015.
  • 2011 - 1512 members with stores in 1823 locations,[12] 41 member bookstores opened.[13] Used bookstores are now eligible for membership, annual dues of smaller stores are lowered.[14]
  • 2012 - 1567 members with stores in 1900 locations,[15] 43 member bookstores opened[16]
  • 2013 - 1632 members with stores in 1971 locations,[17] 45 member bookstores opened[18]
  • 2014 - 1664 members with stores in 2094 locations,[9] 59 member bookstores opened[19]
  • 2015 - 1712 members with stores in 2227 locations,[9] 19 member bookstores opened January–June[20][21]

The ABA sponsored the Book Sense marketing program and associated BookSense.com web site, intended to preserve a connection between consumers and local independent bookstores. In June 2008, Book Sense was replaced by IndieBound, a new program and website.[22] After a period of beta testing, a social network-style community feature was launched on the website on September 11, 2008.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "A Plethora of New Independent Bookstores Open in 2006" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, January 8th, 2007.
  7. ↑ "115 New Independent Bookstores Open in 2007", American Booksellers Association, January 14th, 2008.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hillel Italie, "Independent Bookstores Get A Boost: American Booksellers Association Membership Up Since Last Year", Huffington Post, May 21, 2010.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Hillel Italie, "Independent booksellers continue to add new stores", retrieved August 16, 2015.
  10. ↑ "40 ABA Member Stores Open in 2009", American Booksellers Association, January 14th, 2010.
  11. ↑ Karen Schechner, "25 ABA Member Stores Open in 2010" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, February 24, 2011.
  12. ↑ "ABA Annual Meeting Report", American Booksellers Association, June 5th, 2012
  13. ↑ "41 ABA Member Stores Open in 2011" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, January 10th, 2012.
  14. ↑ "ABA President Michael Tucker Sends Important Update", Karen Schechner, American Booksellers Association, August 19th, 2010
  15. ↑ "ABA Annual Meeting Report", American Booksellers Association, May 30th, 2013
  16. ↑ "43* ABA Member Stores Open in 2012" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, January 17th, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Annual Meeting Report", American Booksellers Association, May 30th, 2013
  18. ↑ "45 ABA Member Stores Open in 2013*" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, February 19th, 2014.
  19. ↑ Liz Button, "59 ABA Member Stores Open in 2014, 29 Sold to New Owners*" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, February 5th, 2015.
  20. ↑ "January–March 2015: ABA Member Stores Opening/Sold" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, April 15th, 2015
  21. ↑ "April–June 2015: ABA Member Stores Opening/Sold" (Press Release), American Booksellers Association, July 21st, 2015
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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