Mexican American Mariachi playing in front of The News Circle Publishing House booth during the grand opening of the American Library Association Midwinter meeting and book Expo in San Diego, California.

The News Circle Publishing House recently exhibited at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting and book exhibition in the Convention Center, San Diego. It was attended by thousands of librarians. 
The News Circle Publishing House took out a booth at the show, exhibiting the Arab-American Almanac, 5th edition and the News Circle Arab-American Affairs magazine, together with about 75 major books by and about Arab-Americans.
The event gave members of The News Circle Publishing House to visit many booths, meeting Librarians and book distributors who came from all over the U.S. Thousands of the Almanac color brochure were distributed in the process including hundreds of copies of the Arab-American Affairs magazine. 
There were hundreds of booths and exhibitors ranging from book distributors, publishers and research databases. People and companies came from all over the nation to exhibit and attend the midwinter meeting.
Among some of the exhibitors were: Jarir Saadoun of Jarir Bookstore, specializing in Arabic books and based in Garden Grove, California. He displayed many Arabic books at his booth. Another Arab-American large exhibitor was ABDO Publishing Company specializing in children’s books of Edina, MN; Baker & Taylor, Charlotte, NC; Barrons Educational Series, Inc, Hauppauge, NY; The Book House Inc, Jonesville, MI; Bowker, New Providence, NJ; California State Library/Statewide Projects, Sacramento, CA; Columbia University Press, New York, NY; EBSCO Information Services, Birmingham, AL; Emery-Pratt Company, Owosso, MI; Gale/Thompson, Farmington Hills, MI; Ingram Library Services, Inc., LaVergne, TN; Midwest Library Service, Bridgeton, MO; Rainbow Book Company, Lake Zurich, IL; and Random House, New York, NY.
A year ago, at another midwinter meeting, the ALA adopted the following resolution in response to the U.S. Patriot Act:
Resolution on the USA Patriot Act and related measures that infringe on the rights of library users. Adopted by the American Library Association (ALA) Council, January 29, 2003, in part stating: 
The American Library Association affirms the responsibility of the leaders of the United States to protect and preserve the freedoms that are the foundation of our democracy;
Libraries are a critical force for promoting the free flow and unimpeded distribution of knowledge and information for individuals, institutions, and communities; 
The American Library Association holds that suppression of ideas undermines a democratic society; 
Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association; and, in a library, the subject of users' interests should not be examined or scrutinized by others;
Certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act, the revised Attorney General Guidelines to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other related measures expand the authority of the federal government to investigate citizens and non-citizens, to engage in surveillance, and to threaten civil rights and liberties guaranteed under the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights; 
The USA Patriot Act and other recently enacted laws, regulations, and guidelines increase the likelihood that the activities of library users, including their use of computers to browse the Web or access e-mail, may be under government surveillance without their knowledge or consent; 
Be resolved, that the American Library Association opposes any use of governmental power to suppress the free and open exchange of knowledge and information or to intimidate individuals exercising free inquiry, and that the American Library Association encourages all librarians, library administrators, library governing bodies, and library advocates to educate their users, staff, and communities about the process for compliance with the USA Patriot Act and other related measures and about the dangers to individual privacy and the confidentiality of library records resulting from those measures;
That the American Library Association urges librarians everywhere to defend and support user privacy and free and open access to knowledge. 
That the American Library Association will work with other organizations, as appropriate, to protect the rights of inquiry and free expression; 
That the American Library Association will take actions as appropriate to obtain and publicize information about the surveillance of libraries and library users by law enforcement 
agencies and to assess the impact on library users and their communities; 
That the American Library Association urges all libraries to adopt and implement patron privacy and record retention policies that affirm that ‘the collection of personally identifiable information should only be a matter of routine or policy when necessary for the fulfillment of the mission of the library’ (ALA) Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights);
That the American Library Association considers sections of the USA Patriot Act are a present danger to the constitutional rights and privacy rights of library users and urges the United States Congress to:
1. Provide active oversight of the implementation of the USA Patriot Act and other related measures, and the revised Attorney General Guidelines to the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
2. Hold hearings to determine the extent of the surveillance on library users and their communities; and
3. Amend or change the sections of these laws and the guidelines that threaten or abridge the rights of inquiry and free expression; and that this resolution be forwarded to the President of the United States, to the Attorney General of the United States, to Members of both Houses of Congress, to the library community, and to others as appropriate.