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Our mission is to foster community amongst our core members, provide opportunities for peer interaction and learning, maintain the notion of Southern California as a viable and important part of the national bookselling landscape, and to advocate on the behalf of our members. The Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) is a regional, not-for-profit trade association established to promote locally-owned and operated retail bookstores and support professional independent booksellers throughout Southern California.

To find out more about IndieBound and how it supports local independent bookstores, visit IndieBound.

REMINDER: 2009 SCIBA Dues must be paid be February 1 to be included in SCIBA Guide to Independent Bookstores and the SCIBA Membership Handbook.

SoCalBookScene Now on Twitter; Follow Us @SoCalBookScene

Unless you're tech savvy or know someone who is, chances are you've never heard of Twitter. But as Twitter goes mainstream in 2009--it grew 752% last year with 4.4 million unique visitors in December--you can say you heard it here first. For the uninitiated, think of cell phone texting and blogging all in one. That's Twitter. And on the web or on their phones, people use it to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), short text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. We'll be using Twitter in close conjunction with the socalbookscene.com website to help promote independent bookstore author events. To find out more about Twitter and how you can use it for your store, see the ABA's Guide to Twitter for Booksellers. Meanwhile, sign up for your free Twitter account and give us a follow @SoCalBookScene.

Glenn Goldman, Owner of Book Soup, Dies at 58. Visit Store to Sign Memorial Book.

Glenn Goldman, whose independent bookstore, Book Soup, became a Sunset Boulevard landmark known for its tall, teetering stacks and mazes of shelves crammed with books, died Saturday. He was 58. Exceedingly well-read and committed to reading, bookselling and the literary life, Glenn was an ardent supporter of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Associations and will be missed by all. Book Soup general manager Tyson Cornell said that the entire staff is prepared to carry on the legacy of Book Soup, and invited well-wishers to visit the store to sign the memorial book for the family. Article links: L.A. Times and L.A. Times Jacket Copy. (Photo at left by Carolyn Kellogg)

Oldest New Bookstore in Los Angeles Celebrates 100th Anniversary This Month; Meet Ray Bradbury and Lisa See!

When eight-year-old Anne Gusha wandered into E.T. Williams' San Pedro bookstore during the depression years of the 30s, she never dreamed that she'd end up owning the store in what some might say are similar times. But she does own William's Book Store, the oldest continuously operating new book store in Los Angeles and a Historic Landmark, and along with her son Jerry have helped big box bookstores come and go by skillfully kicking their behinds with niche marketing. Her store specializes in local authors, harbor area history, comic books and foreign newspapers and magazines. Plus, what customers can't find, she'll order, so there's no need to leave town! The anniversary celebration takes place January 23-25, with Ray Bradbury, Lisa See, Angi Ma Wong, Andy Rafkin, Debbie Marr, Joe McKenzie, Bungy Hedley, Mike Schaadt and Ed Mastro taking part. William's Bookstore is located in San Pedro at 443 W. 6th Street. Call store for details at 310-832-3631.

Avast, Me Lily-Livered Landlubbers! Check Out This Booty!

Aye, we be talkin' A Pirate's Quest, a great, grand book written by the siblings Laura and Robert Sams for yur wee, little ones. Inspired it be by the pirate's Peg Leg Song from The Riddle in a Bottle movie, this book features beautiful oil paintings by wildlife artist Heiner Herling. And yes, Robert is the model for the book's one-legged pirate. So all ye scallywags fur jolly good fun that you ne'er be regrettin', watch The Peg Leg Song music video now. Arrrgh. No time to watch the video? Listen to the song! (Hit play.)

A Pirate's Quest is featured in the 2008 SCIBA Holiday Catalog!.

ABA's Shipping Discount Now Available to all SCIBA Member Stores!

SCIBA is pleased to announce a new way for its members to save bottom line dollars on ALL of their envelope, small package, and LTL shipments—by enrolling in the FREE American Booksellers Association’s Discount Shipping program today.

Here are some of the benefits the ABA Discount Shipping program offers SCIBA members, free:

  - Save up to 31%* on select FedEx services

  - Save 64% on shipments with UPS Freight and Yellow Transportation

  - Save up to 20% on copies and printing services at select FedEx Office locations.

For full details and to enroll, you can either fill out the online form or download the form and fax it in:

ABA Discount Shipping Offer – Click Here!

* Includes a bonus 5% online processing discount. Full details available at PartnerShip