In an unusual partnership, Follett is opening a bookstore across from
the University of Texas in space it is leasing from the University
Co-op, according to the
Austin American-Statesman.
The Guadalupe Street area, known as the Drag, has been a difficult
place for retailers, and previous bookstores, including Europa Books
and Barnes & Noble, have folded.
Follett has agreed not to sell "academic textbooks, UT clothing,
memorabilia or other novelties available at the Co-op," and the
University "will soon sign a three-year, $225,000 agreement with
Follett," under which the company will hold book signings for faculty
authors and other university-related events.
The university has been actively looking for a store to open on the Drag that would stock trade books (
Shelf Awareness, July 28).
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Since its founding in 2004 by the Association of Booksellers for
Children, the E.B. White Read Aloud Award has gone to one book that
"reflects the universal read aloud standards that were established by
the work of E.B White." The association had planned to alternate awards
from year to year between pictures books and book for older readers but
found it difficult to choose a single title. As a result, beginning
this year, the award will be presented in two categories: picture book
and older readers.
New ABC executive director Kristen McLean said in a statement that the
change "reflects ABC's belief that reading aloud doesn't have to stop
when young readers make the leap to chapter books." This year's award winners will be announced Monday, April 3.
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Like many other business owners in Vail, Colo., Robert Aikens of
Verbatim Booksellers has been adversely affected by a slew
of construction projects, according to the
Vail Daily.
That and Internet book-buying have led to "abysmal" sales at Verbatim.
As a result, Aikens will close the store "unless he can find enough money
by next month to run the store for the next two years," the paper said.
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The
Ventura County Star
has an update on Barbara O'Grady, new owner of Adventures for Kids,
Ventura, Calif., who is making a few changes at the long-established
children's bookstore (
Shelf Awareness, January 30). The former manager of the Patagonia café, she is
planning to stay open later, institute a games night and adopt a few
principles from Patagonia's approach. Adventures for Kids founder Jody
Fickes Shapiro continues to assist in the transition.
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Barnes & Noble plans to open a new store in Seattle, Wash., in
April 2007. When the store opens, in the Northgate Mall at I-5 and
Northeast Northgate Way, the company will close a B. Dalton Bookseller
that operates in the mall. The new store will stock the usual nearly
200,000 book, music, movie and magazine titles and have a café.
In other B&N news, the company is returning to the Bayshore mall in Glendale, near Milwaukee, according to the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
B&N had had a store in a part of the mall that is being rebuilt and
expanded. The mall is being renamed Bayshore Town Center.
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Oasis Christian Bookstore in Williamstown, Ky., reopened late last year
in a new location with an unusual sideline: it has a restaurant and
soda fountain, the
Grant County News reported. Installed in the 1960s, the soda fountain has the original seats and counters.
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Raman Agraweal and Tyler French of Gibson's Bookstore in East Lansing,
home of Michigan State University, have created a "community hangout"
in the store that includes wi-fi, coffee and music. "It's a humble
corner, with a couple of tables partitioned off by bookshelves, but
it's got a lot of heart," the
Lansing City Pulse
reported. "Amid Pink Pearl erasers, dusty texts and jokey greeting
cards, the space has the ambiance of a quaint emporium, but it's
granola-dusted with a progressive vibe." Local groups using the space
include Direct Action and Grass Roots Recycling.
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