ABA Announces 2005 Board Election Results

Results of the 2005 ABA Board of Directors elections, which concluded on May 4, were recently certified by the association's election inspector, KPMG. Candidates chosen by ABA bookstore members to serve as directors, with terms ending in 2008, were Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana; Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco; and Collette Morgan of Wild Rumpus Books for Young Readers in Minneapolis. Lawrence, who currently serves on the Board, was elected to a second three-year term.

ABA membership also ratified the Board's choice of Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida, for a second one-year term as ABA president, and of Lawrence for his first one-year term as ABA vice president/secretary.

Ending their terms on the ABA Board are Neal Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California, and Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Other directors on the nine-member ABA Board are Suzanne Staubach of UConn Co-op in Storrs, Connecticut; Carla Jimenez of Inkwood Books in Tampa, Florida; Cathy Langer of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver; Linda Ramsdell of The Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont; and Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands in Tempe, Arizona.

The Board transition will take place at ABA meetings to be held in conjunction with BookExpo America in June in New York City.

New and outgoing members of the Board will be at ABA's Annual Membership Meeting, to be held from 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 3, in Room 1C 04 at the Javits Convention Center. ABA's official annual meeting will provide membership with an update on the past year's activities and accomplishments and a look ahead to upcoming association projects.

ABA's Annual Town Hall Meeting will be held immediately preceding the Board meeting, from 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., in Room 1C 03. The Town Hall Meeting offers ABA member booksellers the opportunity to express opinions and share ideas with ABA Board members and staff in a less formal setting than at ABA's Annual Membership meeting. Booksellers can ask questions and make suggestions on such topics as Book Sense, ABACUS, ABA's educational offerings, or anything else that comes to mind.

Both the Annual Membership Meeting and the Town Hall are open to all ABA members.