A range of religious groups and some members of Congress are
pressuring the federal Bureau of Prisons to reverse its decision to rid
prison chapels of religious books and other items not on the bureau's list
of approved material, the New York Times reported. The Times wrote about the issue, which has led to a class action lawsuit by prisoners, earlier this month (Shelf Awareness, September 9, 2007).
The Republican Study Committee, a conservative Republican caucus in the
House, has written to the bureau's director, saying, "We must ensure
that in America the federal government is not the undue arbiter of what
may or may not be read by our citizens."
Members of Sojourners, a liberal evangelical group, sent 15,000 e-mails to the bureau in two days criticizing the policy.
The bureau has said the policy stemmed from concern that books calling
for violence and hatred could show up in the prison chapel libraries. A
Lubavitcher rabbi said that the bureau's method for chapels to add
titles to the list--involving vetting and certification--wouldn't work
in the real world. "No matter to what extent they try to fix this
policy, it will never come out right," he said.
---
Gene Moutsatson and Debra Hayes have opened Capital City Books and Magazines in downtown Lansing, Mich., the Lansing State Journal reported.
The 3,000-sq.-ft. store offers a range of books, magazines, newspapers,
calendars and coffee. The manager is Jennifer Kaiser.
Moutsatson and Hayes own Community Newscenter in Lansing as well as
three Book Mark stores in towns nearby. Downtown Lansing has not had a
bookstore since Way Station Books & Stuff closed its downtown
storefront earlier this year.
---
The private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners is still interested in
buying Borders Group's Australian and New Zealand operations and has
"lodged an indicative offer" worth more than A$100 million (about $US87
million), Reuters reported.
The firm is making the bid through A&R Whitcoulls, which runs the
Angus & Robertson and Whitcoulls chains. There are several other
bids, sales advisor KPMG said, and a decision may be made in November.
---
Bookselling This Week
celebrates the fifth anniversary of the purchase by Sally Brewster and Frazer Dobson of
a Little Professor in Charlotte, N.C., which they turned into Park Road Books.
It's also the 30th anniversary overall of the store, which at 3,800 square feet
some days feels "a little too big, and some days, a little too small,"
Brewster said.
The store has done well by visiting authors. So far it's sold nearly 600 copies of Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, who made an appearance at Park Road Books, and it sold 2,500 copies of Our Endangered Values when Jimmy Carter appeared.
Brewster, president of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance,
was a bookseller at the Little Professor and Dobson worked at Chapter
11 in Atlanta when they met at a SEBA dinner. Eventually they
married--then bought the store.
Congratulations on many accounts!
---
BTW
also explored Touchstone Books's live global web event featuring
Philippa Gregory who was in London in front of an audience and answered
questions from fans who participated via home computers and at events
hosted by bookstores.
One participating store, A Likely Story, Sykesville, Md., "projected
video of the event as it unfolded on a large screen and served tea and
scones," BTW reported. "Owner Debbie Scheller reported that
nearly 60 people attended, some in period costume. 'It just went
wonderfully,' she said. 'Everyone really enjoyed [Gregory]. I loved
that you could communicate with her via the Web. You could ask her
questions, and she would answer them right away.' Several of A Likely
Story's customers had questions about Gregory's characters and upcoming
books that Scheller e-mailed to Gregory, who answered them immediately."
---
Susan L. Weis, owner of breathe books, Baltimore, Md., and six other
business owners in the Hampden area, have put up some green to be
greener. According to the Baltimore Sun,
the group is paying 10% extra on their electric bills, an amount that
goes to wind power developers. It's the first business collective in
the city to pay extra to encourage clean energy.
"Being New Age is about loving the planet, loving Mother Earth, and we
want to raise the vibrational energy of the planet and each other,"
Weis told the paper. "I am looking out for the health of the earth as
much as my own health."
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Jan Karon and several Viking/Penguin staffers took part in the
Mitford Days celebration held September 13-16 in Blowing Rock, N.C.,
the town on which Karon's Mitford is loosely based. Among the events:
Afternoon Tea with Karon, which drew 400 fans. Here at the tea were:
(back row, l. to r.) editor Carolyn Carlson, Karon and Karon's sister
Brenda; (front row) Miss Sadie and Miss Rose, "characters" from the
Mitford series. Other Mitford Days events included staging of the play Jan Karon's
Journey to Mitford, trolley tours, inspirational speeches by Karon, a
Homecomers Brunch and a parade.