Based on extensive member input, the ABA Board have reviewed and approved Ends Policies, which express the Board's long-term goals. Former ABA President Russ Lawrence explains in a letter to the membership how the ABA's Five-Year Strategic Plan morphed into Ends Statements, "a much nimbler, more realistic approach to planning."
ABA ENDS POLICIES Revised and approved by ABA Board of Directors, June 2011
ABA member bookstores will be professionally operated and profitable, and income derived from regular member’s fees will be equal to, or less than those of comparable trade associations.
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Members will attend multilevel informational and educational programs presented around the country.
Members will have multiple networking opportunities that foster a constructive exchange of ideas.
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Members will have access to financial and/or consulting services, and access to relevant operating financial models to use as tools in the operation of their businesses.
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Members will have access to programs specifically aimed at growing and expanding the reach of children’s books to a wide audience of both consumers and booksellers, including such things as communication vehicles, appropriate awards, and educational programs.
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Members will have access to technology services and/or consulting on technological issues.
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Members will use multiple access vehicles, made available by technological advances, to educational and informational material.
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Members will be aware of and have access to new business models, systems, technologies, and services.
B. Member bookstores will be vital partners to publishers, wholesalers, authors, and vendors and will constitute a vital portion of the U.S. book market
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The general bookselling/book publishing community will be aware of matters of concern to independent booksellers.
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Members will have the opportunity to incubate and develop new business models between booksellers and their vendors.
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The wider bookselling and publishing communities will use and view the American Booksellers Association as a source of relevant and timely statistical, research, and marketing information.
C. Member bookstores will be the preferred marketplace for the public.
- The public will recognize the value of independent bookstores to their communities.
- Independent Bookstores will be part of a community of local independent businesses nationwide.
D. Member bookstores will be heard on legal and regulatory issues, including First Amendment, free expression, and fair trade practices.
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Member bookstores will be represented within groups of appropriate allies dealing with issues of literacy, culture, and the development of new readers.
E. Existing and potential professional independent booksellers will use programs that facilitate entry into the complex world of bookselling.