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.
OCT. 13, OCT. 12, CHGE CHGE
Juvenile Non;ction 640 910 42 13
Juvenile Fiction 3,055 3,170 4 14
Unit Sales of Print Books by Format
OCT. 13, OCT. 12, CHGE CHGE
Mass Market Paperback 1,325 1,343 1 - 11
Board Books 448 529 18 18
Audio 95 85 - 10 0.2
Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel
OCT. 13, OCT. 12, CHGE CHGE
2013 2014 WEEK YTD
Total 10,746 11,318 5% 2%
Mass Merch./Other 2,047 2,086 2 - 3
Retail & Club 8,699 9,232 6 3