Introduction and Contact Information
The American Bookselling Association (ABA) has been the national trade organization for independent booksellers since 1900. The ABA has saved documents, photographs, and ephemera dating back to the start of the organization, however, none of those items have been digitized.
Independent bookstores continue to play a critical role in their communities. The ABA aims to support booksellers with educational resources, publisher partnerships, marketing materials, e-commerce platforms, as well as advocating on behalf of the industry.
The independent bookselling industry has weathered several storms: the rise of chain retailers; the prevalence and undercutting of online retailers, primarily Amazon; the 2008 financial crisis; and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bookstores have proven to be resilient, while stores have closed, new stores continue to open. Past years have also shown a diversification in bookstore models, more pop-ups and mobile stores can be found across the country.
This collection is a very small selection of some of the items from ABA's archives. The items were selected by me based on age, historical value, or creative aspects. The overall archives are rich with history about the bookselling industry as a whole.
While ABA's archives are not digitized, Publishers Weekly does have all its print issues digitized. This is Publishers Weekly's Internet Archive page.
For questions about this website contact the ABA team at info@bookweb.org, we will do our best to address your request.
This site was created by Kate Brennan as a Musem and Digital Cultures MS at Pratt Institute in Spring 2022.