BookStream Closes

BookStream, the three-year-old Poughkeepsie, N.Y.—based wholesaler, closed at the end of last week. The company was forced to shut after it was unable to get either adequate credit from publishers or sufficient capitalization from investors to continue.

OUP Cuts 60 Spots

Oxford University Press laid off 60 people between its two offices in New York City and Cary, N.C. OUP president Tim Barton said the cuts were “a result of the difficult economic environment impacting the publishing industry.” OUP employs roughly 700 people in the U.S. A spokesperson said, besides shedding jobs, the press was not planning any dramatic cuts to its publishing program or to any other strategic initiatives.

Schwartz Closing, Two Opening

Milwaukee's Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops will close by March 31, but two of the bookseller's four locations are expected to be quickly reopened as new stores by two Schwartz employees, including general manager Daniel Golden, who will open Boswell Books in the Downer Avenue location.

Parkhurst Starts Over

Ted Parkhurst, who sold August House Publishers in 2005, has launched Parkhurst Brothers. The Little Rock, Ark., publisher will do books about national and international policy. Five titles are set for release this spring, and distribution will be via the University of Chicago Press.

RH Shuffles Sales

Random House has created a new position, publishing group sales director, for each of its three publishing divisions and has appointed Amanda Close, Janet Cooke and Cynthia Lasky to fill the roles. Close will work with the Crown Publishing Group, Cooke will handle the spot for the Knopf Doubleday group, and Lasky will work with the Random House group. The chief responsibility of the directors will be to “develop and implement plans that achieve their group's overall sales targets.”

Alloy Forms New Unit

Alloy Entertainment, the creator of such hits as Gossip Girls, has formed Alloy Entertainment Collaborative, which will accept manuscripts for review and pay advances to authors whose work it accepts. Up until now, Alloy has generated all of its ideas in-house, but through the new unit it will look to acquire up to 12 books annually from outside writers. The Collaborative will be headed by executive v-p Josh Bank.

BEC Still On

Despite a growing number of defections, a spokesperson for BookExpo Canada said that it still plans to hold the annual convention in June. Four of Canada's largest publishers, along with some major independents, have said they will not attend BEC this year. A spokesperson said BEC is hoping those companies will attend a new consumer show, the Toronto Book Fair, set for early October.

Bowker Gets LibraryThing Stake

Cambridge Information Group, parent company of Bowker, has acquired a minority stake in LibraryThing, one of the most popular sites for readers who want to track and share what they're reading.

COPA Dead

After 10 years of litigation, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) died last week when the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would not review a decision by a federal court in Philadelphia that found the law unconstitutional. Originally passed in 1998, COPA would have banned from the Internet any sexual material deemed “harmful to minors.” The law was immediately challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, but the government continued to push to have COPA enacted, which led to years of appeals.

New Roxburgh Venture

Stephen Roxburgh, founder president and publisher of Front Street Inc., has launched namelos, a consortium of publishing professionals that will offer an array of publishing services.

Horn Book Acquired

The Horn Book Inc., the Boston-based publisher of both the Horn Book magazine and the Horn Book Guide, has been acquired by Media Source, the parent company of the Junior Library Guild. The Horn Book will continue to operate out of Boston. Horn Book publishes six issues per year of children's book reviews, articles and commentary; the semiannual Horn Book Guide compiles more than 2,000 reviews.