BTW talks to this year’s three director candidates for the ABA Board –  John Evans, Matt Norcross, and Ken White – about the challenges facing independent bookstores and ABA’s role in helping members meet those challenges head-on.

This week BTW launches “Booksellers Diary,” an occasional feature of first-person accounts of bookseller’s experiences on the frontlines. The first entry is from Carol Chittenden of Eight Cousins in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Former ABA President Russ Lawrence, who sold his interest in Montana’s Chapter One Book Store and, along with his wife, Jean, joined the Peace Corps in 2009, checks in from the town of Chivay in Peru, where, among other things, they’re busy developing a “local-first”-style campaign.

Meryl Halls, head of membership services for the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom & Ireland, talks about her experience at Wi6, the value of collective brainstorming, the challenges facing booksellers in the U.K., e-books, and more.

ABA President Michael Tucker answers questions about a proposed bylaws amendment that, if approved, would move the association from a nine-person Board to a 10-person Board by making the position of Board president a separate and distinct position that serves one two-year term.

Booksellers came away from last week’s Winter Institute armed with plenty of practical ideas to improve their businesses; energized by the many networking opportunities with colleagues from across the country; and looking forward to handselling titles shared by publishers and authors at the event.

Becky Milner, owner of Vintage Books in Vancouver, Washington, shares her experiences at last week’s Winter Institute in Washington, D.C.

ABA CEO Oren Teicher writes about his recent visit to Shenzhen, China, where he participated in the city’s 11th annual Reading Month festivities at the invitation of Shenzhen’s “Reading Month Committee.”

ABFFE President Chris Finan talks about the recent controversy regarding Amazon.com’s decisions to sell and then pull from its website a constitutionally protected work that is, nonetheless, abhorrent to many.

ABA COO Len Vlahos writes about his recent trip to New Zealand and Australia, where he was invited to speak on the digitization of the U.S. book market.  While in Auckland and Sydney, he visited area indies, made many new friends, and learned a lot about the similarities, and differences, in the three book markets.