Friday, July 1, 2022  
Board Officers Letter

Dear Fellow Booksellers,

By the time you read this, we will have reunited with many of you in person in Phoenix at Children’s Institute! For those who could not make this event, we’re sorry we missed you this time and hope to see you at future live events. 

We all continue to seek new ways to plan for a world still ruled by a pandemic and its ever-changing circumstances. In May, the Board met for our first hybrid in-person/virtual Board meeting in over two years. It was wonderful to finally be together, especially to meet with our newest Board members, but we were still faced with last-minute challenges due to possible COVID exposures. The Board focused this meeting primarily on the future: the future of Bookshop with a visit from Bookshop CEO Andy Hunter and Senior Partnerships Manager Sarah High, the future of Above the Treeline and Edelweiss with CEO & New Product Development Director John Rubin and Retail and Library Client Success Manager Deidre Dumpson, and a full day of futurecasting about the industry at large.  

Much of our discussion about the future centered around the need for flexibility as the landscape continues to shift. This year we’ve had Board members leave before the end of their terms due to unforeseen changes in their personal and professional lives. These sudden pivots are consistently challenging and we continue to learn from each experience, but they also present the need for us to adapt and simplify our way of doing things. This means we, as a Board and as an organization, need to adjust how we conduct everything — from Board recruitment and time commitments to what Board service looks like in the face of this new way of life. In short, ABA, like many of you, is fast discovering what the new business-as-usual is to create built-in flexibility everywhere. In light of that, below is a roundup of current issues that will affect members as we move forward. We look forward to finalizing and sharing all these new endeavors in order to make our Board service more manageable and the organization stronger. 

—Christine, Kelly, and Angela, your Board officers
Annual Meeting & Town Hall

The need for flexibility came into play when we had to reschedule last month’s Annual Meeting & Town Hall because our CEO had an accident (Allison has fully recovered and appreciates the well wishes!). Although this is primarily an opportunity for the Board and members to communicate with one another, the Board felt it was important for the CEO to also be present in case questions about “Means” — the organization’s strategy, initiatives, and programming — arose. As a reminder, the Board is in charge of defining ABA’s Ends policies, or desired outcome of the organization’s work, and we encourage members to review our current Ends Policies. The CEO is responsible for creating the association goals, strategies, and plans to meet the Ends. 

We hope you’ll join us on Thursday, July 14, at 2:00 pm ET for the rescheduled Annual Meeting and Town Hall. (The Annual Meeting starts at 2:00 pm ET, followed immediately by the Town Hall.) Booksellers can submit questions or comments ahead of time at [email protected], or are invited to speak or submit questions during the meeting. 
Preparing For Future Changes

We are planning to propose to the membership ABA Bylaws revisions to accommodate for the much-needed flexibility of these current times, and you can expect to hear about these proposed changes in the next several months. We are also beginning a rolling review of the four vendors who report to the Board and the creation of new subcommittees within the Board, such as a Board Finance Committee whose purpose is to help the Board review ABA’s endowment investment policy with the future in mind.
Updates
Thank You to Outgoing Board Directors

The time has come to say goodbye to three wonderful Board members: Kris Kleindienst, Michelle Malonzo, and Michael Herrmann. All three will be missed and we share our deep gratitude for their Board service.
Welcome to Incoming Board Directors

We welcomed three new Board members, elected by the membership — Diane Capriola of Little Shop of Stories, Jeff Deutsch of Seminary Co-op and 57th Street Books, and Raquel Roque of Books & Books — at our May Board meeting.

The Board recognizes that the traditional annual call for Board nominations is no longer sufficient given our larger Board and the inevitable turnover given the times. To address this, the Nominating Committee will accept nominations year-round to ensure that viable Board candidates are in the pipeline at all times. Interested members can nominate themselves or others at any time, in addition to doing so during the usual time frame allowed for by ABA’s bylaws.

The Board wants to hear from you! Join the Board for Office Hours on August 15, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm ET. 

This session will be hosted by Co-Vice President Kelly Estep, and ABA Board Members Cynthia Compton, Raquel Roque, and Jeff Deutsch.

Booksellers are invited to speak with the Board about any topics they wish. These forums offer an opportunity for booksellers to talk directly with board members, share questions, comments, and concerns.

Registration for ABA's Board Office Hours is only required once. Those who register will have access to upcoming sessions through the rest of 2022.

We look forward to hearing from you at Board Office Hours and in our upcoming Annual Meeting & Town Hall. Remember to submit your questions to [email protected].

Finally, here is a day-by-day recap of the May 2022 ABA Board meeting.
 
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