Island Bookstore, which has stores in Duck and Corolla, N.C., on the Outer Banks, has opened a third store, in Kitty Hawk. Owner Bill Rickman, who was onetime general manager of Kroch's & Brentano's in Chicago, Ill., and has owned Island Bookstore for 10 years, said in a statement, "For years we've met the demands of a seasonal crowd in Corolla and Duck. Now we'd like to provide for locals a great general bookstore with an excellent selection of current hardcovers and paperbacks, book club selections, authors signings, and new to the Outer Banks, an extensive selection of magazines and periodicals."

During his decade in North Carolina, Rickman has expanded the Duck store and doubled the size of its offerings. Located in the Scarborough Faire shopping center, the store has more than 44,000 titles in 2,400 square feet on two floors. In 2000, he opened a second store, about the same size, in nearby Corolla's Restored Historic Village.

The new Island Bookstore is at 3712 N. Croatan Highway, Kitty Hawk, N.C. 27949; 252-255-5590.

Some of the key members of Emmis Books's management team are continuing to provide "the necessary promotion, presentation, sales support and direction" for the closed house's line of recently published as well as backlist titles, Emmis Publishing president Gary Thoe has stated.

Howard Cohen, former Emmis publicity director, and Meg Cannon, the former marketing manager, are working on publicity and marketing. In addition, Richard Hunt, former publisher and president of Emmis Books, has been contracted "to oversee the operational direction of Emmis Books" through Publishers Group West, its distributor.

At the same time, Hunt, who in a previous life was an Oscar Dystel Fellow and worked for many years at Bantam Doubleday Dell, then Houghton Mifflin and F&W Publications, has founded Clerisy Press, which will provide project management, editorial and marketing services as well as publish books. The house seeks to publish some new titles previously announced to the trade as Emmis titles as well as its own titles.

PGW will distribute Clerisy Press to the trade.

Putting the impending closing of the flagship Cody's Books store in Berkeley, Calif., in perspective, the San Francisco Chronicle discusses the difficult business environment on Telegraph Avenue, "where the commercial vacancy rate is approaching 15% and last year's sales tax receipts were 30% below what they were in 1990 when adjusted for inflation."

Among the problems, according to the paper, Internet competition for "two staples of Telegraph Avenue," books and music; the university's increasing retail and food options for students; a dated identity; and the large homeless population.

Still, some are optimistic. Doris Moskowitz, owner of Moe's Books, as much a bookstore institution on Telegraph Avenue as Cody's, acknowledged "serious blight" but told the paper, "I believe the neighborhood is just about to turn around."

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Borders and Chase are introducing the Borders 3-2-1 Visa card, an "enhanced" version of the Borders VISA card that awards card members three points for every dollar spent at Borders or Waldenbooks; two points for each dollar spent at certain gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores; and one point for all other purchases. There is no annual fee for the card.

Besides using points for Borders gift cards, members can redeem points for checks or gift cards at other companies, including airlines.

Members of Borders Rewards who use the card get credit for their purchases through both programs. Borders Rewards members can have their Rewards number embossed on the 3-2-1 Visa card so that they can use only one card when making purchases.

Only last month, Barnes & Noble introduced the B&N Member MasterCard (Shelf Awareness, April 19), which gives members of B&N's loyalty program rebates on most purchases at B&N and B&N.com and points on purchases at other companies.

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Some booksellers are not at all unhappy with the news from Bowker (see its press release) that U.S. title output in 2005 decreased by more than 18,000 to 172,000 new titles and editions, marking the first decline in U.S. title output since 1999. It's also only the 10th time in the last 50 years that output has decreased from one year to the next.

Gary Aiello, COO of Bowker, commented: "In 2005, publishers were more cautious and disciplined when it came to their lists. We see that trend continuing in 2006. The price of paper has already gone up twice this year, and publishers, especially the small ones, will have to think very carefully about what to publish."

Since 1995, new titles have increased 51% for all U.S. publishers, 17% for the largest trade houses and 14% for university presses. And last year, the industry had a record increase of more than 19,000 new books over the previous year.

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Jim Nichols has been promoted to v-p of sales at Consortium Book Sales & Distribution. Before joining the company as sales director five years ago, he was associate sales director at Kodansha America. In his new role, Nichols will take on more management duties, more closely overseeing the Consortium sales force as well as in-house account managers for Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon, Ingram, Baker & Taylor and a new gift rep sales force.

Here's another tip from Fodor's for BEA attendees:

There's nothing like working the booths to work up an appetite. Check out some of Fodor's top picks, like a delicious breakfast away from your hotel room at Teaism, a casual meal for bookworms on a budget at Sala Thai, or a splurge at Butterfield 9 when you're looking to impress your favorite buyer.  For details and more exclusive BEA coverage of restaurants, shopping, and entertainment in Washington D.C. visit www.Fodors.com/BEA.

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Another potentially hot panel is the Frontline Booksellers' Summer Picks session scheduled for Saturday, May 20, 3:30-4:30 p.m. The bookseller panelists will each highlight four or five spring or summer releases they intend to recommend to customers and discuss promotions and marketing plans. The panelists are Mark LaFramboise of Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C.; Kari Patch of the Harvard Bookstore, Cambridge, Mass.; Laura Grey of Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Jessica Stockton of McNally Robinson Booksellers, New York City; and Stuart Hecht of the Book Vault, Wallingford, Conn. The panel is moderated by Robert Gray, founder of Fresh Eyes Now and a former bookseller at Northshire Bookstore.

Incidentally several of the participants are noted bookselling bloggers. Gray has Fresh Eyes: A Bookseller's Journal, whose latest post is an excellent exploration of handselling, and Stockton is the author of the entertaining and enlightening Written Nerd: Confessions of an Independent Bookseller and Unrepentant Book Nerd.

Talk about a world-class off-site event.

Last weekend Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting drew 24,000 shareholders to Omaha, Neb., home of both company headquarters and legendary chairman Warren Buffett. Referred to by many as "Woodstock for Capitalists," the meeting includes three days of parties, receptions and meals intended to promote the many companies Berkshire Hathaway owns or in which it has sizable investments and to promote Omaha. As part of the festivities, in what's called Berkyville, Berkshire Hathaway companies set up booths in the Qwest Center and sell many of their products at a discount to shareholders. These include Justin Brand boots, Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies.

The only non-Berkshire Hathaway company involved in Berkyville is the Bookworm, an Omaha independent, which sells books at and staffs the Berky Bookstore. For the third year in a row, the store participated, an experience co-owner Beth Black called "a really fun time, a party atmosphere. It's incredible, and it's great exposure. We're so thrilled to be there."

This year the store sold some 36 book and DVD titles at 25% discounts, resulting in sales of "thousands of copies," Black said. Months before the annual meeting weekend, the store submits a list a potential titles, put together by co-owner Phil Black, which includes some books by or about Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. "Mr. Buffett" and Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charlie Munger consider the list and add some titles, which, Black said, usually are "something great they've read" that more often than not is "just a good read," not necessarily a financial or business title. This year, for example, Munger added several titles to the Berky Bookstore list: two books by Judith Rich Harris, The Nature Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do (S&S, $15, 0684857073) and No Two Alike: Human Nature and Human Individuality (Norton, $26.95, 0393059480), and Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street by William Poundstone (FSG, $27, 0809046377).

The Berky Bookstore sold out of several Munger titles and the Woodstock for Capitalists DVD. Noting that the staff arrives to set up at 7 a.m. and sells until 4:30, Black called it "a lot of work but fun work. Just to meet that many people is so wonderful, and they're from all over the world."

Black had special praise for Buffett, famous for his modest style. "He lives here and shops here and is a regular guy," she said. "You forget he's the second richest man in the world." He's also "done so much for schools here," she said. Both Buffett and Munger, she continued, "are huge readers and recognize the value of reading."

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's Web site.

Saturday, May 13

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In this previously aired segment, Alfred Zacher discussed his book Trial and Triumph: Presidential Power in the Second Term, in which he argues that a president's effectiveness in a second term is dependent on his ability to work with Congress.

7 p.m. History on Book TV. At an event hosted in a Borders Express in the GM headquarters building in Detroit, Mich., former General Motors speechwriter and public relations counselor William Pelfrey talks about his book about Billy Durant and Alfred Sloan, the founders of GM, Billy, Alfred, and General Motors: The Story of Two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History (AMACOM, $27.95, 0814408699).

Sunday, May 14

1:30 a.m. After Words. From the North Carolina Festival of the Book, author Tom Wolfe lectures on the subject of "What's Southern Today?" He recounts growing up in Richmond, Va., offers observations from traveling through the South and measures the South's influence on his writing. (Re-airs at 7 p.m.)

This morning on the Early Show: Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Morrow, $29.95, 0061124230).

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This morning the Today Show starts cooking with Cheryl Alters Jamison, author of The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining: Spirited Recipes and Expert Tips for Barbecuing, Charcoal and Gas Grilling, Rotisserie Roasting, Smoking, Deep-Frying, and Making Merry (Morrow, $24.95, 0060737840).

Also on Today, a polite Marc Tolon Brown, author of D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners (Little, Brown, $15.99, 0316121061).

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Taking her turn this morning on Good Morning America: the Vice President's daughter, Mary Cheney, author of Now It's My Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life (Pocket, $26, 141652049X). Cheney is also on Primetime Live this evening.

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Today on KCRW's Bookworm: Ian Monk, author of Writings for the Oulipo (Make Now Press, $16.50, 0974355445) and translator of New Impressions of Africa by Raymond Roussel (Atlas, 1900565099). As the show puts it: "Oulipo is the school of literature that uses linguistic constraints to create a new, playful way of writing. Some members of Oulipo restrict the number of vowels used; some never use the same word twice (quite a feat!). Here, Ian Monk, one of the two members of the Oulipo who write in English, discusses some of the unusual ground rules that generate his poems and stories."

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Today on NPR's All Things Considered: Christopher Farley, author of Before the Legend: Bob Marley (Amistad, $21.95, 0060539917).

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Tonight on Charlie Rose: guest host Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and former Time editor, talks with Howell Raines, former executive editor of the New York Times and author of The One That Got Away: A Memoir (Scribner, $25, 0743272781).

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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Francis Fukuyama, whose new book is America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy (Yale University Press, $25, 0300113994).

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Tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman: Teri Hatcher, the Desperate Housewife whose new memoir is Burnt Toast: And Other Philosophies of Life (Hyperion, $24.95, 1401302629).

The following are the April bestsellers at Independent Mystery Booksellers Association member stores:

Hardcover

1. Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert
2. Promise Me by Harlan Coben
3. Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
3. The Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
5. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall-Smith
6. The Big Bamboo by Tim Dorsey
7. Dark Light by Randy Wayne White
7. Lost Gardens by Anthony Eglin
9. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
10. Nicotine Kiss by Loren D. Estleman
 
Paperback

1. The Sign of the Book by John Dunning
2. Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King
3. The Majolica Murders by Deborah Morgan
3. The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters
5. Long Spoon Lane by Anne Perry
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
7. The Goodbye Body by Joan Hess
8. Spice Box by Lou Jane Temple
9. Dead Man's Bones by Susan Wittig Albert
10. The Mask of Atreus by Andrew Hartley

[Thanks to IMBA!]