BAY AREA KIDS BOOKSELLERS INVITE CALIBA MEMBERS TO JOIN THEIR "BE THE REASON CAMPAIGN"

The "Be the Reason" campaign is a call to action for our customers and communities which begins with "Be the Reason..." Simply asking our customers to do something small like buy a book, educate

themselves about bad faith book bans, and remember that Indie Bookstores are important community hubs in difficult times.

Find more information and assets for the campaign here. 

Bay Area Kids Booksellers (BAKB) is an unaffiliated bookseller affinity group in Northern California. They bring together children's booksellers for in-person meetings once a quarter with the aim to to provide opportunities for booksellers to network and share best practices while also encouraging publishers to see booksellers as the real life influencers we are. If you're a bookseller interested in joining or a publisher interested in sponsoring a meeting please email bayareakidsbooksellers@gmail.com.

*COMING SOON* CALIBA MARKETING ASSETS FOR BOOKSTORES

We know that it takes time and another skillset to create marketing materials for your store. So to give you back some time we are working on *NEW* assets that you can share with your customers. Publishers and authors will be pitching their upcoming titles for inclusion in the assets. While we get this project off the ground, let us know if you have any titles in mind that should be included (see the themes we have planned below).

Upcoming marketing assets:

• Mother's Day
• Summer Reading Guide: Genres/Categories
• Pride Month
• Father's Day
• Juneteenth
• And more!

Which titles do you think we should include? Email Alecia.

• Image of the Day: Mrs. Dalloway's with W. Kamau Bell (Shelf Awareness)
• PW Sales Rep of the Year 2025: Ty Wilson (Publishers Weekly)
• Hey Books! Arrives in San Diego (Shelf Awareness)
• 6 Southern California independent bookstores join first-ever Global Book Crawl (The Orange County Register)
• Sacramento bookstores band together, defy Amazon during busiest weekend of the year (Capital Public Radio)
• A Novel Idea: Flintridge Bookstore celebrates indie shops (Pasadena Weekly)

• SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund Independent Bookstore Grant: three independent bookstores will be awarded a $1,000 grant to host a public program or bookstore event featuring a children's book author or illustrator. Applications open on May 15 and close on July 15. Click here for more grant details.

• Books Across Borders Fellowship: Apply now to attend an International Book Fair! The booksellers selected will be treated to customized itineraries at their fairs. There are six potential fairs!

"The tariffs instituted by the Trump Administration are hurting the U.S. economy. Small businesses and their communities will suffer the consequences—increases in costs, decreases in spending and local tax revenue, supply chain disruptions, and the real possibility of increased inflation and a recession. An immediate course correction is critical but will only happen if federal lawmakers hear from small businesses like yours in droves." Read the full article and send your message to congress now.

April: Arab American Heritage Month / National Poetry Month / National Stress Awareness Month

April 21-25: Independent Bookstore Day Spirit Week

April 26: Independent Bookstore Day

May: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month / Jewish American Heritage Month / National Small Business Month

May 1: Deadline to Apply to Books Across Borders for Fall 2025-2026

May 1: CALIBA Board of Director Ballots Sent to Principal Bookstore Members

May 5-11: Children's Book Week

May 7: Spring Forum @ Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Del Mar 

May 8: CALIBA's Summer Reading Guide (powered by RAMP) Delivered to Stores

May 15: SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund Independent Bookstore Grant Applications Open

May 15: CALIBA Board of Director Voting Closes

May 26: Memorial Day

June: Pride Month / Audiobook Appreciation Month

June 11-14: ABA Children's Institute 2025 in Portland, OR

June 15: Banned Books Week Kit Sign Up Deadline

July 15: SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund Independent Bookstore Grant Applications Close

September 17-18: Fall Fest @ South San Francisco Conference Center

October 5-11: Banned Books Week

1 - Judging by the Cover, in San Dimas, will be having a soft opening on Saturday. Congratulations! 🥳

2 - Wild Plum Books, in St. Helena, spoke about bookselling and community in today’s Napa Register. 📰

3 - Books Inc. spotlighted their Prisoners Literature Project partnership. Such a great and worthwhile idea. 📚

4 - Bookish Modesto had a great turnout and lots of activities for the release of Emily Henry’s latest book. 🌅

5 - Octavia’s Bookshelf, in Pasadena, has fun activities planned for Saturday. Cereal Bar?! 🥣

6 - Bel Canto Books, in Long Beach, is ready for Library Appreciation Day (today!) 🗃️

7 - Chaucer’s Books, in Santa Barbara, showing their spirit during Indie Bookstore Spirit Week. On Wednesdays we wear bookstore shirts 🩷

8 - Capital Books, in Sacramento, debuted a joyful window display to celebrate indie bookstores 🎨

Happy Independent Bookstore Day, Everyone! 🎉

Don't forget to follow and tag CALIBA (@caliba_20) to be featured!

Click here for the Los Angeles Times & Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestseller List

Click here for the San Francisco Chronicle & Northern California Independent Bookstore Bestseller List

• Experienced Bookseller Wanted - Camino Books, Del Mar
• Bookstore for Sale - The Pleasant Pheasant, Woodland
• Bookseller/Social Media Manager - Readers' Books, Sonoma
• Part-Time Team Member - Book Society, Berkeley
• Full-Time Bookseller - The Reading Bug, San Carlos

Alecia

Supporting Staff

Yin Yang Love Song

Lauren Kung Jessen

9781538741634

Hannah

Executive Director

The Obelisk Gate

N.K. Jemisin

9780316229265

Valentina

Operations Manager

Oathbound

Tracy Deonn

9781665951906

Support CALIBA

Publishers support CALIBA when bookstores participate.

Bookstore Participation = Publisher Sponsorship = CALIBA = Bookstore Education, Advocacy, Networking +++

Hannah Walcher, Executive Director

Livermore CA 94550