To nominate your favorite bookstore (even your own!), please provide the following:

1) Name and location of store

2) Category—indicate whether the store is a general or a children’s specialty bookshop

3) Contact person at the store, including email address and phone number (most important!)

4) A brief statement about why you believe the store is deserving of this award, including information about programs that the store sponsors to encourage the love of books in young readers.

6) Your name, contact info, and affiliation to the nominated store.

Please email your nomination to Valerie Tomaselli, current chair of the WNBA Pannell Award committee, at vtomaselli@mtmpublishing.com. Deadline for nominations is Jan. 15.

The 2011 winner in the General Bookstore category is Queen Anne Books in Seattle, WA. The Children’s Specialty Store category winner is Fairytales Bookstore in Nashville, TN.

A jury of five book industry professionals deliberated for four weeks, then selected the winners based on creativity, responsiveness to community needs and an understanding of young readers. Jurors expressed admiration for all the nominated stores. In particular, the reasons they gave for the selected bookstores included:

Queen Anne Books was lauded for its “clear understanding of the needs of young readers at different ages and stages,” for “its creative ways to reach them (in stores, in schools, in libraries, in the community),” and for “not overlooking the oft-forgotten secret weapon, the parents.” Also impressive are “the fact that they reach out to children in foster homes and give discounts for parent-child book groups,” and “the Bookworms Little League Team.”

Fairytales Bookstore was praised for the “comprehensive approach it takes to involving kids in reading, from creative play and storytelling, to music, and visual arts.”  Also noted was that “its daily story time offers many ways for kids to engage with reading and books.”  Its attention to parents – their need to “relax and rejuvenate” in the store – was also commended.

To learn more about the winners and the Pannell Award, go to: WNBA Awards.

WNBA held a reception on March 12th in New York City to honor 2010 recipient of the WNBA Award,  Masha Hamilton.  The reception was held at the Center for Fiction/Mercantile Library, 17 East 47th Street (betw. 5th and Madison).

Colleagues, friends, and WNBA members were in attendance.

Learn more

The organizers of National Reading Group Month invite publishers to participate in the Great Group Reads 2011 program. Now in its third year, Great Group Reads is a highly regarded and anticipated resource for book clubs and reading groups to plan discussions—and likewise, for bookstores and libraries to recommend.

Preliminary submission guidelines:

1) Genre: fiction (novels, novellas, short stories) and memoir published between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2011;

2) Submissions: limited to two titles per publisher, or imprint;

3) Format: all eligible, including trade-paper reprints published within the designated timeframe;

4) Restrictions: previously submitted titles are ineligible.

Titles for consideration should be submitted on/before Friday, March 18. Publishers are asked to contact Roz Reisner, Great Group Reads Coordinator, via email at roz@thereisners.net, (re: Great Group Reads 2011).

More: www.NationalReadingGroupMonth.org.

Media Contact:

Jill A. Tardiff, National Reading Group Month Chair

jill.tardiff@gmail.com, or NationalReadingGroupMonth@gmail.com

1) Current WNBA member (Chapter or Network)

2) Willing and able to commit time to read 15 to 20 books in approximately four months (start April-end July)

3) Able to read various genres:. fiction, short story and memoir

4) Involved with a book discussion group (current or past)

5) Able to express comments and opinions — beyond the obvious “I like it” or “I didn’t like it” — and to post regularly on the GGR blog, an important component of the process

Fit the bill? We would love to have you on the Committee. Please apply (see contact info below).

What’s in it for you? Free books and “great reads” … plus recognition on the highly trafficked National Reading Group Month Web site via Great Group Reads Selection Committee Roster (bios), links from that page to your own Web site (if applicable), and inclusion in press releases about Great Group Reads (circulated to 1000s in the publishing industry and library field). We think a fairly good deal for everyone concerned.

We strive to have readers from ALL NINE CHAPTERS, representing our diverse backgrounds and regional tastes. We are aiming for 100% chapter participation. Currently, we have readers from Los Angeles, Washington DC, Charlotte, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Nashville.  Detroit and Boston, we want you!

Contact Roz Reisner, Great Group Reads Coordinator, at roz@thereisners.net on/before Friday, March 18.

Reviewer Roxana Robinson said Pearlman’s writing is “intelligent, perceptive, funny and quite beautiful”.

WNBA congratulates her, and encourages members to read her work.

Today, 380,000 children still live in displacement camps, waiting for their struggle to move from mere survival to revival.

This anniversary date is not one for celebration, but a day to remember the countless children who still need our help. They are the earthquake generation, and what happens next for them will determine the fate of an entire country.

As long as this generation of children teeters on the brink, UNICEF will be there.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Please read more about the progress we’ve made and what you can do next to help.

With my deepest thanks,
Caryl M. Stern
President & CEO
U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Since 2003, the annual study has measured the literary health of American cities with a population of 250,000 or more. The rankings examine six categories: bookstores, educational attainment, internet resources, library resources, newspaper circulation, and periodical publication.

CCSU president Dr. John W. Miller wrote the report,  noting two sad trends: “At the beginning of this survey, in 2003, newspapers in America’s larger cities had a weekday circulation equivalent to 55 percent of the population of the cities; Sunday circulation was 75 percent. Now, on average, less than one third read a weekday paper and less than half read a Sunday paper … In some otherwise strongly literate cities, the [bookstore] change is even more dramatic. Boston, for example, has gone from 9 per 10,000 in 2003 to 3 per 10,000; and Minneapolis, perennially in the top 3 of the overall rankings, has gone from 14 to 6 per 10,000.” (Via USA Today)

Article from Galleycat, by Maryann Yin, Jan 10, 2011

“Her work has reinforced reading via libraries as essential and empowering for all people. Her innovation in training has deepened the book skills of library workers. Her public outreach has effectively promoted libraries well beyond library walls.”

Nancy Pearl, author of numerous volumes of Book Lust starting in 2003, also hosts a monthly TV program of the same name.  “The former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book, Pearl celebrates the written word by speaking at bookstores and libraries across the country.” (source: www.NancyPearl.com)

Chair of Development

Criteria:
Development Chair will: possess knowledge of and passion for WNBA’s mission;
Be a strategic thinker on behalf of WNBA’s programs, fundraising and outreach efforts;
Work in partnership with WNBA’s Executive Board on ongoing program, fundraising and outreach initiatives;
Serve a two-year term with the possibility of renewal upon vote by full National Board.

Board Relations:
Development Chair will:
Attend the annual National Board Meeting in person;
Review and contribute input to Board Meeting agendas;

Fundraising:
Make introductions to professional colleagues, associates, friends and institutions on behalf of WNBA;
Research and apply for grants throughout the year;
Work with the Board on appropriate follow-through to cultivate the interest, involvement and support of prospective donors, thereby assisting in relationships for the organization;
Write thank-you notes for contributions;
Prepare a written report to Board members updating them about the organization’s progress, highlights and achievements.
Develop template language describing WNBA which could be used by any chapter or chairperson to solicit funding for the organization.
Maintain a current list of solicitations to prevent duplication of effort.

Chair of Communications

Criteria:

• Possess knowledge of and passion for the Women’s National Book Association’s mission;
• Be a strategic thinker on behalf of WNBA’s ongoing communications needs;
• Have previous experience in publicity and communications in either his or her own professional or volunteer work;
• Serve a two-year term with the possibility of renewal upon vote by full Board.

Responsibilities: Publicity

• Overseeing and directing the implementation of an overall external communications strategy for the national WNBA with the help of the Executive Officers of the Board;
• Initiating and executing publicity campaigns for WNBA national-level activities, including the WNBA Award, the WNBA Pannell Award, and National Reading Group Month; and presenting plans for these campaigns to appropriate Board members  for their input and approval in advance of executing them.
• Working with the Board on developing a comprehensive media list, to be updated on an ongoing basis;
• Assisting and advising the Board, including the newsletter chair, in ways to enhance the newsletter and other internal communications as vehicles to increase internal knowledge of and excitement for the organization, its work, and activities

All above responsibilities can be executed with the help of committee members to be chosen by the Chair.

Board Relations:

• Preparing a brief written report to Board members updating them about the organization’s communications activities three times per year, or on a schedule agreed to by the Chair and Executive Officers of the Board, as well as for the annual national Board meeting;
• Attending the annual national Board meeting in person for the purpose of reporting on the previous year and planning for the upcoming year;
• Reviewing and contributing input to Board meeting agendas.

To apply for either of these positions, please contact Joan at joangelfand.com