ABFFE Turns 20 at BookExpo America

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship, turns 20 at BookExpo America held this week in New York.

ABFFE was launched at the American Booksellers Association convention in 1990. At the time, booksellers faced many censorship threats: Salman Rushdie was still in hiding following the publication of Satanic Verses; the American Family Association was boycotting Waldenbooks in an effort to stop the sale of Playboy; and Michigan booksellers were threatened with 12 censorship bills, including one that imposed a four-year prison sentence and of fine of up to $100,000 for a first offense of selling an obscene book. At a press conference at the convention, ABA announced that it was creating ABFFE to fight for the First Amendment rights of booksellers and their customers.

Many things have changed in 20 years, but censorship remains a threat. Rushdie is free, but fear of violence recently led Yale University Press to censor a book about the controversy over the publication of cartoons of Muhammed. Alaska and Massachusetts have just enacted legislation censoring the Internet, and the FBI still has the power to search the records of any bookstore customer or library patron in a terrorism investigation, including people who are not suspected of criminal conduct, much less terrorism.

To mark its anniversary, ABBFE is issuing a timeline that highlights some of the battles it has fought since 1990. It has also created a commemorative sticker that it hopes ABFFE members and supporters will wear during BookExpo to show their support for the organization and its mission.

Both the timeline and the sticker will be available at the ABFFE table in the ABA Members Lounge. ABFFE President Chris Finan and Amy Long, ABFFE program assistant, will be on hand to answer questions about ABFFE's recent activities as well as its programs and products.

BEA Debate: "Free Speech for Corporations?"

ABFFE will sponsor a program at BookExpo to explore the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision striking down limits on the money corporations can spend in political campaigns. Critics of the decision predict it will unleash a flood of contributions from wealthy companies and drown out the voices of groups without resources, while others worry that government restrictions on campaign spending threaten the free speech rights of unions, the news media, and even publishers.

The ABFFE program, "Free Speech for Corporations?", will feature a lively exchanged between advocates on both sides of the debate. Ira Glasser, former executive director of the ACLU, will discuss the concerns that led the ACLU to oppose campaign finance restrictions. Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, will explain why his group is supporting a constitutional amendment to restore campaign restrictions. Tom Allen, the president and chief executive of the Association of American Publishers, will moderate the hour-long discussion. Allen represented Maine in the House of Representatives before joining AAP last year.

The program will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. in Room 1E12. It is co-sponsored by AAP and the Freedom to Read Foundation.

emotionGallery Joins ABFFE Affiliate Program

ABFFE has a new partner. emotionGallery, a French company that has created a line of innovative bookmarks that utilize lenticular images to create animated 3D effects, has agreed to contribute $1 to ABFFE for every 10 bookmarks that are sold in independent bookstores. The company will give customers 144 bookmarks as well as a compact display that includes a revolving cylinder that reveals the bookmarks in full motion. They will pay only for future orders. The bookmarks wholesale for $1.75 and retail for $3.99. Company representatives will be with ABFFE at BEA in the ABA Booksellers Lounge. Booksellers who can not attend BEA can learn more by emailing the company at sales@emotiongallery.com.

ABFFE launched its affiliate program at BookExpo in 2009. 2020 Vision USA, a Sarasota, FL company that sells reading and sunglasses in high fashion Italian designs, agreed to contribute $1 to ABFFE for every pair of glasses it sells to independent bookstores. In the first year, the partnership has raised over $12,000 for ABFFE. 2020 Vision USA will also exhibit in the ABA Lounge.

Mitchell Kaplan at Books & Books in Miami, an ABFFE board member, recommended both companies based on strong sales of their products in his stores.



Show Your Support for Freadom!

ABFFE's popular "freadom" t-shirts, buttons, bookmarks, bumper stickers and more are available during Banned Books Week and all year round. 

To order online, visit the ABFFE store.