Booksellers Provident Retreat at Abbots Langley, Herts, 1848"The Booksellers Provident Retreat, Abbott's Langley, Herts, established 1843, is an asylum connected with the Booksellers' Provident Institution, for aged booksellers and booksellers' assistants, and their widows, who are in receipt of annuities from the Booksellers' Provident Institution. Income under £100 per annum." from The Charities of London, by Samuel Low, Jun., London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co. 1861.Believe it or not these guys are still around. It is now run by the "BTBS the book trade charity" and "The benevolence, care and generosity of the members of the Booksellers Provident Institution who...
The Cassidy 18: A Bookseller Reflects on His First Year
A little over year ago Brian Cassidy took over the Cannery Row Old Book Co. in Monterey, California and set up shop.His recent blog post 18 Things I've Learned This Year (Or: 2007, A Bookseller’s Year in Review) is packed with little nuggets of bookselling wisdom and is a must read (and comprehend) for anyone who thinks that the bookselling life might be for them.The Cassidy 18:1) I will never run out of books. Never. There are always more books to be bought.2) A corollary: There are always more GOOD books to be bought. If I feel like I’m not...
On the Road with Walter Benjamin
"How many cities have revealed themselves to me in the marches I undertook in the pursuit of books" - Walter Benjamin "Unpacking My Library. A Talk About Book Collecting"Blogging has been and will continue to be a bit light for the next week or so as I will be heading to San Francisco for a bookfair. Days to get ready, days to get there, days at the bookfair and days to get home.All days in the lucky life of a bookseller!
Books Thriving: Online and Off
A new study released from Nielsen touts that 41% of all internet purchases worldwide were for books, an increase of 7% in the last two years and the number of people who shop online has grown 40% in the same two years.“Some of the biggest buyers of books on the Internet are from developing countries—China, Brazil, Vietnam and Egypt—indicating massive growth potential for online retailers that can specifically target these fast-growing markets" says Jonathan Carson of Nielsen Online.Here at home books made up 38% of all online purchases.While sales climb online sales at brick and mortar bookstores were up in...
ABA Misguided In Their Support For An Internet Sales Tax
The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is once again calling on its members to contact their governors to support a sales tax on online sales.In the template letter they provide their booksellers to send to their governor they say the "sales tax shortfall will grow worse each year as online shopping grows. The Wall Street Journal reported that online sales this holiday season grew by a remarkable 19 percent. In contrast, retails sales this holiday season only rose 3.6 percent."Wouldn't you rather get in on the "remarkable" growth of online shopping than to try and deter it?I understand that having to...