In the wake of the Civil Economics report released at Winter Institute that outlined the negative impact of Amazon on local communities, the ABA has created a new package to help booksellers get the message out of the importance of localism. .
The toolkit, which was announced in Wednesday's Bookselling This Week, will be featured at the ABA Spring Forums, which kicked off in Atlanta earlier this week. The kit contains materials that booksellers can circulate, from talking points to tips for meeting with elected officials.
Included in the New Localism Toolkit is also an Antitrust Action Kit with templates of state-by-state letters urging lawmakers, attorneys general, and governors to take action based on the findings of the Civil Economics report and Amazon's business practices. Among the findings in the report is that about $1 billion in tax revenue is lost to stare and local governments because of Amazon.
In the letters, ABA CEO Oren Teicher wrote that ABA believes that “Amazon’s abuse of its dominance and its growing monopolization have had a negative impact on free expression and the health of America’s book industry, including a chilling effect on the diversity of, and access to, books and information.”
