Publishers Weekly - October 20, 2014

News

Funding
tance for local political groups, Chrastka
said, providing “tactical and financial”
support that includes training library
activists in voter data analysis, message
development, social media outreach,
door-to-door canvassing, and opposi-
tion engagement. Donations provide the
financial support that allows the PAC to
offer sophisticated political support for
local funding issues.

Chrastka said that trade publishers “have been slow to adopt us as a cause,” adding, “They don’t seem to understand that these campaigns directly impact library collection budgets.” Most of EveryLibrary’s funding comes from the library community. Chrastka noted that Rosen Publishing, a library-oriented reference publisher, has donated $8,000 to the PAC over the last two years. He also said EveryLibrary has received financial support from library vendors like OverDrive, Hoopla, and Mango Languages. —Calvin Reid

Public Library in Rhode Island, a

$550,000 levy increase for the Park Ridge Public Library in Illinois, a $440,000 levy renewal for the Northville District Library in Michigan, and a $490,000 annual operating levy renewal for the Paulding County Carnegie Library in Ohio.

Chrastka said EveryLibrary will also
work on two or three special elections
slated for this winter, including one in
Miami-Dade County, Fla. The Coalition
to Save Miami-Dade County Libraries,
which EveryLibrary supports, is trying to
reverse budgetary cuts imposed on the
local library district in an earlier budget.
The new campaign hopes to add about $8
million in funding to the county librar-
ies. “The budget cuts in Miami were
defeated by a grassroots coalition in
2013,” Chrastka said, “but there’s still a
big hole in the budget. We’re working
with the coalition to support this
initiative.”
EveryLibrary offers a range of assis-
EveryLibrary Gears Up for November Elections

EveryLibrary is gearing up for a big election day on November 4. The political action com- mittee (PAC) rallies support for key library funding initiatives on local ballots and is currently working on eight ballot measures around the country.

EveryLibrary director John Chrastka said that those eight ballot initiatives represent $5 to $6 million in funding. So far this year, the PAC has supported seven library funding measures, five of which passed, amounting to roughly $15 million in funding for library districts. Chrastka said he expects EveryLibrary to be active in campaigns for about 20 different ballot initiatives in 2014 that could reap as much as $40 million for local library districts.

Among the eight ballot initiatives that will go before voters on November 4 are a $990,000 levy for the Josephine Community Library in Oregon, a $1.2 million remodeling bond for the Cranston

SOURCE: NIELSEN BOOKSCAN AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. NIELSEN BOOKSCAN’S U.S. CONSUMER MARKE T PANEL COVERS APPROXIMATELY 80% OF THE PRINT BOOK MARKET AND CONTINUES TO GRO W.

Unit sales of print books rose 5% in the week ended Oct. 12, 2014, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Two categories in particular had noteworthy performances: in the juvenile nonfiction segment, unit sales jumped 42% over week 41 of 2013; and in adult fiction, where year-over-year sales have been down for most of 2014, units were up 6%. The gains in juvenile nonfiction occurred even though sales of Minecraft books cooled a bit. Still,

Minecraft: Construction Handbook sold about 40,000 copies in the week, more than 10 times the sales of the top-selling juvenile nonfiction title in the week ended Oct. 13, 2013. Combined sales of the 100 bestselling juvenile nonfiction titles in week 41 of 2014 soared 84% over those of the 100 top sellers in the similar week last year. In adult fiction, three editions of Gone Girl held the top three spots, selling a total of about 162,000 copies in the week ended Oct. 12, 2014—a 57% increase over the three top-selling fiction titles in week 41 of 2013. Growth in the juvenile fiction segment slowed, though it had the overall bestselling title in the week: Rick Riordan’s The Blood of Olympus sold over 162,000 copies in its debut week.