ABA Announces 2015 Election Results

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The results of balloting by the bookstore members of the American Booksellers Association to elect a new president, vice president/secretary, and three directors to serve on the ABA Board are now official.

Betsy Burton of The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been elected to a two-year term (2015–2017) as ABA president, and Robert Sindelar of Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington, will serve a two-year term as vice president/secretary.

Elected to three-year terms (2015–2018) as directors are Valerie Koehler of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Texas; Pete Mulvihill of Green Apple Books in San Francisco, California; and Jonathon Welch of Talking Leaves…Books in Buffalo, New York. This will be the second three-year term for Koehler and Welch, and the first for Mulvihill.

Continuing on the 10-member Board will be Sarah Bagby of Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kansas; John Evans of DIESEL, A Bookstore in Oakland, Larkspur, and Brentwood, California; Jamie Fiocco of Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Matthew Norcross of McLean & Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, Michigan; and Annie Philbrick of Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut.

Leaving the Board is Steve Bercu of BookPeople in Austin, Texas, whose two-year term as ABA president is ending.

The Board of Directors transition will take place at meetings in conjunction with this month’s BookExpo America in New York City. All ABA members are encouraged to attend the Annual Membership Meeting on Thursday, May 28, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., in Room 1E15/16 of the Javits Convention Center in New York City. The meeting agenda will include the formal announcement of ABA’s election results, reports from the president and CEO, a membership and financial update, and the opportunity for members to bring old and/or new business to the attention of the Board of Directors.

The Annual Meeting will be preceded by the Town Hall, from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., also in Javits’ Room 1E15/16. The Town Hall provides booksellers with the opportunity to express their opinions and concerns and to share ideas with ABA Board members and staff in a less formal setting.

To provide an opportunity for as many members as possible to speak during the Town Hall, a sign-up sheet will be prominently displayed starting Wednesday morning, May 27, in the ABA Member Lounge (Meeting Room 214 at the front of the “200” aisle on the trade show floor). Booksellers will be called upon to speak at the Town Hall in the order in which they sign up.

ABA’s Consolidated Financial Statements (2014 and 2013) and Form 990 are now available to members in the Governance section of BookWeb. (A BookWeb username and password are required.)

Questions about the Town Hall and/or the Annual Membership meetings should be addressed to Membership and Marketing Officer Meg Smith.

Information about all of ABA’s programming at BEA is available here.