CIRCULATE WIDELY

      Petition to protect small
booksellers. This petition is important
to
     the small independent booksellers.
Please take a moment to sign it.
     If you are the 50th, 100th, 150th
      signature, please e-mail the
petition to the AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS
     ASSOCIATION, e-mail address
[log in to unmask] .

      If you want more info, here is a
web site:

http://web.bookweb.org/m-bin/by_topic?topic_id=37

      PETITION TO BLOCK BARNES & NOBLE
ACQUISITION OF INGRAM
      This petition will be sent to the
US Congress, Department of Justice
     and the Federal Trade Commission to
block Barnes & Noble's proposed
     acquisition of the Ingram Book
Company, the single largest supplier
     of books to small bookstores across
the country. This acquisition,
     should it be allowed to take place,
is just one more example of the
     large scale corporate consolidation
that has infiltrated every corner
     of our culture.

      As the desire intensifies to
increase bottom line profits, no matter

     what the other consequences, so
does the concentration of power in
     the book industry. Consumers are
left with an environment in which
     fewer and fewer people are deciding
which books get published and
      ultimately, which books Americans
can read and buy. Barnes & Noble
     has already entered into an
alliance with the $14 billion media
     giant, German-owned Bertelsmann
AG. Now with Barnes & Noble's
     proposed acquisition of the
billion-dollar Ingram Book Company,
there
      can be little doubt that the book
industry is falling prey to the
     same anticompetitive ills that
currently plague computer software and
     other industries. This deal would
make independent bookstores
     virtually dependent upon their
largest competitor for their books.
     (It is as if Burger King and
Wendy's had to buy their French fries
     from McDonald's).

      We need your help. As a patron of
independent booksellers, please
     sign the petition to help us lobby
the government to stop this
     proposed merger.

      Please exercise your right as a
citizen and tell the government how
      you feel. We sincerely thank you
for your support.

      Please add your name to this
petition and forward it to as many
     people as you can. If you want to
sign the petition but not send it
     around, please sign and return it
to e-mail address above.
      **IMPORTANT: Do not use the
"Forward" utility in your mail program.
     Instead, cut and paste this message
into a NEW E-MAIL, add your name
     to the bottom of the list, and send
it out widely to all your friends
     and networks. **


     1. Meg Gouraud, Canon City CO
     2. Garrison Keillor, St. Paul MN.
     3. Roy Blount Jr., NY NY
     4. Ridley Pearson, Bellevue ID.
     5. Amy Tan, San Francisco CA
     6. Stewart Wallace, New York NY
     7. Richard Einhorn, NY, NY
     8. Norman Hollyn, Santa Monica CA
     9. JoAnn Hanley, Los Angeles CA
     10. Isabel King, Gardena CA
     11. Maya Conn, Santa Monica CA
     12. Matthew Weinstein, Brooklyn NY
     13. Alice Shechter, Brooklyn NY
     14. Bj Richards, Oak Park, Il.
     15. Susan Salidor, Chicago, IL
     16. Heidi Kafka, Chicago, IL
     17. David Lavan, Chicago, IL
     18. Annissa Anderson, Bend, OR
     19. Cheryl Heinrichs, Bend, OR
     20. Sean F. Everton, San Jose, CA
     21. Deanne L. S. Everton, San Jose,
CA
     22. Dawn Ramsey, Bend, OR
     23. Barbara Boothby, Bellingham, WA

     24. Laura Cazares, Santa Barbara,
CA
     25. Karin Gursky, San Rafael, CA
     26. Gregory Hines, San Francisco,
CA
     27. Hal Conklin, Santa Barbara, CA
     28. Daniel Figlo, Santa Barbara,
CA 29. Neal Rabin, Santa Barbara, CA
     30. Christopher Horner, Venice, CA
     31. Luis Watts, Bloomfield Hills,
MI
     32. Joel Swadesh, USA
     33. Jane Prettyman, Santa Barbara,
CA
     34. Joe Forgy, Texarkana, TX
     35. Janet Stevens, Irvine, CA
     36. Jeannie Brown, Mission Viejo,
CA
     37. Patricia Sierra, Toledo, OH
     38. Austin Wright, Cincinnati, OH
     39. James Wheatley, W. Hartford, CT

     40. David Richter, New York, NY
     41. John Richetti, Philadelphia, PA

     42. Nina Auerbach, Philadelphia,
PA 4
     43. Catherine Benamou, Ann Arbor,
MI
     44. Celeste Olalquiaga, NYC
     45. Eunice Lipton, NYC
     46. Sharon Frost, NYC
     47. Allen Eisenberg, NYC
     48. Alan Sondheim, NYC
     49. E.M.Garrison, Boise, ID
     50. John Cayley, London, UK

------------------------------




%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%