Books-A-Million launches same-day delivery with Walmart (chainstoreage.com)

The budget battle is a long way from over, but so far Congress appears not to share President Trump’s desire to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, or the National Endowments for the Humanities, or the Arts. On Wednesday, the full House Appropriations Committee voted to approve FY2018 funding for libraries. By a 28-22 margin, the committee approved the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) funding bill, which proposes roughly $231 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—including $183.6 million for Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) programs, and $27 million for the Department of Education’s Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program—essentially at 2017 funding levels. A post on the ALA Washington Office’s District Dispatch e-newsletter, said the “successful and extremely important" full Appropriations Committee vote represents another "major milestone" in the ALA’s Fight for Libraries! Campaign—but acknowledged there are hurdles still to come. Click Read More below for more of the story.

The American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) and the catalog marketers and other remote merchants it represents are outraged that the Supreme Court today upended well-established precedent that has served the country well for more than half a century. “Small catalog and online retailers with little or no presence beyond their headquarters will be hurt the most – some will be forced out of business,” said ACMA President & Executive Director Hamilton Davison. “Rural Americans, shut ins and older consumers will be particularly hard hit by this decision.” By ruling against remote sellers and customers all across America, the High Court’s decision means companies who sell only 100 orders a year must now collect sales taxes for every South Dakota order. “This is a ridiculously small threshold,” Davison said. “A merchant might sell only 100 $20 orders and now be forced to comply with laws well outside its capacity and be subject to horrendous complexity.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Enthusiast magazines Rock and Ice and Climbing, which have been rivals for 36 years, are now one entity. The future merger was announced when Big Stone Publishing was acquired by Pocket Outdoor Media in October 2020. The new combined publication, called Climbing, debuts this spring — but it will be written by the editorial staffs of both magazines. To date, there has been no mention of staff reductions. The future Climbing will include art makeovers and upgrades, as well as more content and higher production values. Editors describe the alliance as “having a partner to help solve an elusive crux, rather than trying to unlock it yourself.”