Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland

The '''Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland''' (BA) is a trade body founded to promote retail [[bookselling]] in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. It operates the [[National Book Tokens|National Book Token]] scheme in the UK and sponsors the [[Whitbread Award]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F36561774A5135A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=NewsLibrary.com - newspaper archive, clipping service - newspapers and other news sources|publisher=}}</ref> The BA represents 95% of British retail booksellers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15149546|title=Decline in High Street bookshops continues in 2011|date=4 October 2011|work=BBC News}}</ref> The BA operates the Batch payments system, an electronic purchasing interface for independent bookshops.

The BA has made calls for increased government support for retail bookselling, in the light of many bookshop closures in recent years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/36299|title=Book Trade Announcements - BA Calls For Action As New Figures Reveal That Independent Bookshops Down By A Quarter Over Last Six Years|publisher=Book2Book|date=3 October 2011|access-date=23 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211092706/http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/36299|archive-date=11 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Annual conference== The Association's annual conference is an important event in the UK bookselling calendar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview14|title=The Bookseller|author=Nicholas Clee|date=3 May 2003|work=The Guardian}}</ref> As well as speeches by key industry figures, it also sees the presentation of the "[[Nibbies]]", awards for trade bookselling and booksellers.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/book-trade-nibbies-chooses-shortlists.html|title=Book trade Nibbies chooses shortlists|author=Anna Richardson|magazine=The Bookseller|date=11 April 2008}}</ref>

==See also== *[[List of booksellers associations]] * [[Books in the United Kingdom]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.booksellers.org.uk/ The Booksellers Association] website.

{{Books}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:British booksellers]] [[Category:Bookselling trade associations]]

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