Atlanta Mayor issues welcome to Spring Book Show attendees

ATLANTA, Ga. – March 22, 2007 – When book vendors and buyers from around the world convene at Atlanta’s World Congress Center on March 23-25 for the biggest bargain book show in the South, they’ll get a big official welcome from Mayor Shirley Franklin.

“As Mayor of Atlanta, I am pleased to welcome you to the Eighth Annual Spring Book Show,” the mayor says in her welcoming message. “Atlanta welcomes all those involved in the arts. We have a thriving literary community that is home to a number of best-selling authors.”

Book buyers from North America and as far away as Europe, Asia and Africa will be able to choose from more than 50,000 book titles offered at deeply discounted prices. Those attending Spring Book Show 2007, the eighth annual such event here, will include buyers from bookstore chains, big box stores, discounters and independent book store operators.

Public and academic librarians, and the school media specialists who look after the libraries and computer labs at K-12 schools have been invited to attend the show free of the normal $50 admission charge for professional buyers.

The show includes educational components, including workshops for members of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and a two-day seminar for writers and book publishers.

Vendors of bargain books tend to be specialists that buy book overruns that didn’t sell immediately in the few weeks they’re made available in bookstores. The length of time newly issued books remain in retail outlets has been decreasing rapidly as stores seek to move inventory in and out of shelf space quickly.