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This article explores the phenomenon of the gift enterprise bookstore in the mid-nineteenth-century United States. An early form of premium marketing, the gift-book enterprise promised to reward each book purchase with a surprise 'gift', ranging from pencils to dress patterns to cutlery to jewellery. A novel form of marketing books, the gift enterprise bookstore teetered on a thin line between sensation and sham. Although decried as form of illegal lottery gambling and beset by accusations of dishonesty, gift-book enterprises grew immensely popular. Drawing on extensive archival research on one of the most successful gift-book enterprises, the bookstores of G.G. and D.W. Evans--operating in urban centres from 1856-1861--this article examines gift enterprise bookselling in the context of mid-nineteenth-century American print cultures. As savvy entrepreneurs, the Evans' leveraged the national reach and perceived authority of the newspaper by engaging in debates over the morality and legality of the business in the columns of widely-circulating papers and capitalised on editorial and reprinting practices to endorse their business model and market their bookstores. In addition, in lengthy bookseller catalogues distributed across the nation, the Evans' created a bookstore in print and shaped inclusive imagined and real communities of readerbook buyers. Examining the print culture of Evans' gift-book enterprise offers new insights into nineteenth-century book marketing and the ways in which gift enterprise bookselling was intimately connected to and inseparable from contemporary print forms, networks, and practices. Taking the gift-book enterprise seriously expands the histories of American bookselling and decentres the dominant focus on large publishers. In addition, the gift-bookstore phenomenon highlights how bookselling is always entwined with larger cultural dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of my article is a unique place, the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, which connects Yiddish culture with the American one, the experience of the Holocaust with the descendants of the survivors, and a modern idea of Jewishness with the context of American postmodernity. Created in the 1980s, in the mind of a young and enthusiastic student Aaron Lansky, the Yiddish Book Center throughout the years has become a unique place on the American cultural map. Traversing the continents and crossing borders, Lansky and his co-workers for over thirty years have been saving Yiddish language books from extinction. The Center, however, has long stopped to be merely a storage house for the collection, but instead has grown into a vibrant hub of Yiddishkeit in the United States. Its employees do not only collect, distribute, digitalize and post online the forgotten volumes, but also engage in diverse activities, scholarly and cultural, that promote the survival of the tradition connected with Yiddish culture. They educate, offering internships and fellowships to students interested in learning Yiddish from across the world, translate, publish, and exhibit Yiddish language materials, in this way finding new users for the language whose speakers were virtually annihilated by the Holocaust. To honour their legacy, a separate project is aimed at conducting video interviews that record life testimonies of the speakers of Yiddish. Aaron Lansky's 2004 memoir, Outwitting History, provides an interesting insight into the complexities of his arduous life mission. Today, the Center lives its own unique life, serving the world of academia and Yiddishkeit enthusiasts alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New York-based Brentano's Bookstore (1850-1996) demonstrated growth and resilience when the economy or their business went up or down, but Brentano's never adopted the deep discounting that became a modus operandi for American booksellers and book clubs from the 1930s onwards and especially after World War II. Resistance to deep discounting spelled doom for Brentano's, particularly when Barnes and Noble became a competitor in the 1980s. Over many decades, Brentano's experimented successfully with innovative retailing techniques, including bookstores on ocean liners plying Atlantic routes, serving upscale, multi-lingual, international readers. The on-land bookstore chain, in several cities, peaked at 28 stores in the 1980s and was known for its well read, impeccably dressed, courteous staff, setting a model of effective handselling. Tension between appealing to rarefied tastes of elite consumers vs. meeting practical demands of ordinary shoppers manifested in Brentano's bookselling tactics. Conglomeration in US publishing eventually dissolved Brentano's publishing operation as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was as a “political prisoner” – as the owner of a radical bookshop and forum for revolutionary debate in Buffalo, New York, who was framed by the police and thrown into jail – that Martin Sostre attained national recognition in the 1960s. At that time, his name was often mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Huey P. Newton. In the years since, his reputation somewhat declined and, yet, it is argued here that, he has much to tell historians about his turbulent age: as a jailhouse lawyer for the Nation of Islam in his youth, during his first term in prison, as a Black Power activist in Buffalo, or, later, as a campaigner for prisoners’ rights, and as a community activist in the 1980s–90s, his career traversed a crucial period in American history. This article reconstructs Sostre’s career, illuminating the making of radical culture in the 1960s, the connections between older and newer phases of struggle and between prison and ghetto. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the U.S. government's suppression of the Washington, D.C., bookstore the Washington Cooperative Bookshop (WCB) between 1939 and 1950. According to the article, the WCB openly sold Marxist literature and hosted presentations by individuals associated with several iterations of the Communist Party (CP). The article states that the WCB was investigated by the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), the office of the U.S. attorney general, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Borders, the US bookstore chain, was for a time a credible competitor to the even bigger chain, Barnes & Noble. However, as the digital revolution in publishing moved forwards in the early 2000s, Borders made numerous unfortunate managerial decisions, unwittingly putting itself on a course towards collapse. Overexpansion and unsustainable debt were in the background, and ill-considered in-store retailing techniques in the foreground. This article reports on a visit to a representative Borders 'concept store', in Massachusetts, where nearly every department in the store had been adapted from traditional bookselling methods to exploit the digital side of bookselling and publishing. And yet nothing worked well enough to capture the attention of shoppers. The store—and by extrapolation the nationwide chain—essentially self-destructed, leaving a gaping hole in American bookselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses changes in the publishing industry in the 21st century caused by increased competition from online retailers, electronic books, and open access publishing, particularly commenting on the impact on scholarly content. The article comments on the detrimental effects of large chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble on independent retailers, the decreasing relevance of the peer-review process due to self-publishing of original content, and the state of academic and public libraries in the U.S.

World Book Night US has been launched following the successful World Book Night in the UK in March of 2011. Both countries will now hold the annual event on April 23, 2012, and the hopes are that it will be taken up by other countries as well. Its main goal is to foster literacy by enlisting volunteers to go into the community in search of non- or light readers, with free, not-for-resale special paperback editions of 25-30 different titles. A million books in all. As part of the effort, all the attendant publicity is intended to shine a light on the value of reading in general. In both countries, every book constituency has come together in support of the campaign: publishers, authors, booksellers, librarians and others. Both the UK and US organizations are non-profit charities, with funding from publishers, booksellers and foundations; very corporate and individual donations are being sought. Each organization has an executive director, a board of directors or trustees, and then all-volunteer advisory, marketing, website and publicity groups. The million book production is coordinated by the director and a production committee, and a distributor gets the books to bookstore or library drop points, accomplishing the third goal, which is a reminder of the value of bookstores and libraries in the community and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We think of bookstore chains-Barnes and Noble, Brentanos, Walden Books, or the defunct Borders-as recent phenomena. But, the roots of franchised bookselling lie deep in American publishing history. A case can be made that late eighteenth century publisher-printer Isaiah Thomas, of Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, was the originator of the bookstore chain. At his zenith, Thomas and various partners had eleven stores operating in a network reaching from Boston to Albany to Baltimore, with branches in New Hampshire and Vermont. Driving the Thomas publishing-bookselling enterprise was a form of vertical corporate integration of publishing services (all the way from papermaking to distribution of product) that would, under today's antitrust laws be hard to justify legally. At the time, in the 1790s-1810, Thomas's multiple interlocking businesses were, nonetheless, truly a bookman's empire, with bestsellers like almanacs and textbooks leading the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the perceptual turmoil that influences the condition of the book retailing in the U.S. in the 21st century. It states that this turmoil is caused by the role played by the book reading and institutions responsible for the production and preservation of books in the U.S. culture. It says that the most declines in the bookselling market is revealed by the independent bookstores. Moreover, the increased competition and economic stability also impacted the physical bookstores.

The article discusses spaces created by and for women in Boston, Massachusetts during the women's movement of the 1970s. According to the author, these spaces did not create significant language to the city compared to concurrent major infrastructure projects, but they did increase women's access to the city and to services and resources which allowed them to develop alternative identities independent of men. It is suggested that while urban gendered spaces do not create or guarantee women's rights, they help to assert and institutionalize them. Topics discussed include reproductive rights, women's health centers, women's shelters, and feminist bookstores.

Szwede Slavic Books, the largest Slavic bookstore in the United States, ceased operations in May 2010. However, throughout its operation, the bookstore made an enormous contribution to Slavic culture and Slavic library collections in the United States. In this article, the author introduces the owners, Irena and Jerzy Szwede, and longtime employee Vera Shemelis. Additionally, he discusses the firm, its books, and the special atmosphere of the store. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the emergence of the New York bookshop and publishing firm, the American Ethnological Society, as the commercial center of an intellectual enterprise. It stresses its relevance between the ethnological research and literary commerce and the American expansion in the southwest and Mexico. It outlines the partnership of John Russell Bartlett and Albert Gallatin in founding the bookshop. Moreover, the significance of the bookshop and the views of the founders are discussed.

The article discusses the impact of the growth of the Web and the maturation of print-on-demand technology to the book publishing industry in the U.S. The author stated the two companies Amazon.com and Lightning Source are primarily responsible for setting in motion the tectonic shift in book publishing. He added that Amazon has brought a larger selection of books than any brick-and-mortar store and offers discounts on prices. Meanwhile, Lightning Source enables customer to decide what discount to offer.

This article discusses women's studies and the role of feminist bookstores in several states in the U.S. in the development of women's studies. The history of women's studies have been developed with attention to institutionalization, activism, location and publication histories. The author identifies feminist bookstores as public sites that strategically contributed to the development of women's studies. These bookstores have affected women's studies movement nationally and have been influence by one another through their collective participation in a transnational network of feminist bookstores.

Pornography illustration in books published by the Jack Woodford Press, is discussed. The sale of obscene books at the fifty-four bookstores was stalled by the police. Photographs of the books front covers with models is presented. The author looks at how the marketing of the books was done in the era of censorship. Moses Aaron Shapiro and Allan J. Wilson partnered together to sell the books at The Concord bookshop on Manhattan Times Square. Discounts on cash purchases and books returned earned them a steady clientele. Woodford's stories were full of the adolescent sexual fantasies and the commoner dreaming of stardom, so they could identify with their heroes. Despite the popularity of the books Woodford did not enjoy financial security.

This article discusses how Neil Van Uum has survived the competition in the independent bookstore market. Uum has managed to prevail in the market with the use of his unusual retailing strategy, which is to combat the giants by being even more giant. His Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cleveland, Ohio is bigger than the Borders, sells merchandise ranging from toys to quilted handbags and boasts a restaurant where flank-steak salad goes for 9.95 dollars. The six stores owned by Joseph-Beth average 30,000-square-feet. The American Booksellers Association, which represents independent stores, says its members increased their market share by 2 percent in 2004, to 18 percent of the 11 billion dollars in U.S. adult fiction and nonfiction book sales. Independents have shown modest share growth for the past three years, after years of decline. Competitive independents have learned survival skills, emphasizing service, in-store events and promoting local or little-known authors.

Shares the author's experience of managing college stores. Management strategy employed by the author; Number of college stores in North America, U.S. and Canada according to the National Association of College Stores; Ways to outperform competitors.

This article presents a historical background on Franklin Furnace, an institution that provides gallery for exhibitions and installations and even a publisher for artists and curators in the U.S. founded by Martha Wilson in April 1976. In the 1980s, the philosophical underpinnings of the artist space movement faced problems of inflated budgets and ambitions and marketplace values brought about either the demise or co-option of many such spaces. Thus, the artists space become a seriously endangered species, almost extinct in some parts of the country. However, Furnace survived the hard times and is very much alive due to the fact that as an artists institution it has mutated and adapted to the needs and conditions of the times. Ironically perhaps, it has been able to evolve in form in response to the cultural environment without surrendering its primary raison d'etre because it has not lost sight of those principles on which it was founded. The Furnace opened initially as a bookstore in the front part of the Franklin Street space in New York City. However, Franklin Furnace evolved to became an informal gathering place where sculptors video artists, performance artists, composers, dancers, poets and experimental theatre directors, all came to see each other's works and exchange ideas.

This article focuses on feminist bookstores in the U.S. When Kathryn Welsh opened Bluestockings Women's Bookstore on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1999, feminist bookstores across the country were dosing, succumbing to the financial pressures of an increasingly competitive market. Now, four years later, many of the bookstores Welsh visited have gone under. Bluestockings itself has new owners and a revamped mission that defines the storefront as a radical bookstore and activist resource center, but not specifically a women's space. It's no secret that the number of independent booksellers has dwindled over the last decade with the growth of deep-discount bookstore chains and online book marts. Feminist bookstores have fared no better than their peers. In 1997, there were 175 in North America. Now there are 44. Charis Books & More in Atlanta, Georgia, will soon have a large chain book retailer as a neighbor. Although some feminist bookstores report steady sales and customer support despite the omnipresent chains, escalating costs are punishing many independents whose profit margins have always been slim.

The article reports on the increasing concern regarding patron privacy surrounding of the USA Patriot Act and its continuations an amendments in the U.S. The amendments of legislator Bernie Sanders seeks to limit capricious use of section 215 of the USA Patriot Act by restricting funding for searches of library and bookstores records. The USA Patriot Act provides other mechanisms for obtaining patron information. Further, it has been announced that sections of the USA Patriot Act had been used to request library records.

Focuses on the laws, orders and regulations implemented in the U.S. in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and their impact on libraries, privacy and government information in the country. Passage of the USA Patriot Act; Impact of the law on libraries and bookstores; Other laws, orders and regulations implemented after September 11, 2001; Initiative by the government to decrease the government information available to the public.

Provides information on the United States (U.S.) bookselling industry. Formation of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association; Profit analysis of independent bookstores and booksellers in U.S.; Discussion on book sales conducted online; Details of a branding program conducted to increase consumer purchases.

Focuses on the role played by Afro-American bookstores during the Black Power movement in the United States in the 1960s. Role played by black bookstores in United States oral history; Structural conditions for the re-birth of black bookstores; Sources of black counterhegemonic information; Activities by Drum and Spear Bookstore and Press.

This article presents a content analysis of sexually explicit magazines sold in an adult bookstore. Although there have been content analyses of sexually oriented paperback fiction for the general public and of soft-core general magazines, no comparable analysis of the stronger hard-core magazines sold in adult bookstores has been reported. These materials are more explicit and represent a different kind of publication, addressed to a different audience. A content analysis of these magazines could identify the outer dimensions or limits of candor of permissible sex content in magazines today. Although the New York Times estimate of 20,000 U.S. adult bookstores is probably high, there certainly are a large number of establishments, which sell explicit magazines. According to the author, interviews he had conducted with owners of adult bookstores have established that the amount of space allotted to a magazine tends to be directly proportional to the popularity of the magazine. It is necessary to interview the customers of the bookstore in order to determine the functions served by these magazines.

Discusses the status of the United States trade books. Effect on the revenues of bookstores on the decline in the US trade book sales in 1997; Exports in 1997; Statistic of US book industries' purchases, sales, production, employment and earnings from 1996 to 1997; US exports and import of books.

Reports on CD-ROM sales in bookstores. Importance of the commitment of chainstore managers and independent-store owners; Ingram Book Co., Barnes & Noble and Warner Books as dominant players in the CD-ROM market; Pricing and packaging issues; Poor sales of electronic books; Emergence of stores focusing on books on tape and edutaiment CD-ROMs. INSET: Will electronic fiction sell in bookstores?..