ABA Welcomes New Booksellers Advisory Council Members

A number of new volunteer booksellers are joining the American Booksellers Association's Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC), with 12 booksellers starting this June and two starting in January 2004. The BAC is designed to provide the ABA Board of Directors with a broad cross-section of views from within the community of independent booksellers. The council is composed of 25 members, each of whom will serve an average two-year term.

BAC members joining the council in June are:

• Becky Anderson, Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, Illinois
  
• David Cockcroft, Wordsworth Books, Little Rock, Arkansas
  
• Scott Foley, Grass Roots Books & Music, Corvallis, Oregon
  
• Sue Griepentrog, The Little Read Book, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
  
• Vivien Jennings, Rainy Day Books, Kansas City, Kansas
  
• Gwen Marcum, Capitola Book Café, Capitola, California
  
• Linda Ramsdell, Galaxy Bookshop, Hardwick, Vermont
  
• Lyn Roberts, Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi
  
• Leslie Ryan, Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  
• Brother Simba Sana, Karibu Books, Hyattsville, Maryland
  
• Dale Szczeblowski, The Concord Bookshop, Concord, Massachusetts
  

In January, the booksellers joining BAC are:

• Susan Avery, Ariel Booksellers, New Paltz, New York
  
• Carol Chittenden, Eight Cousins, Falmouth, Massachusetts
  

Anderson's Bookshop's Becky Anderson told BTW that she is happy to serve on the BAC because "it's such a great group of independent booksellers, who are so involved around the country. There are so many issues that we are facing, such as the USA Patriot Act and the sales tax [e-fairness] issue, I think we can really make a difference."

In June, the booksellers ending their terms are: Dana Brigham of Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Massachusetts; Tom Campbell of The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina; Ellen Davis of Dragonwings Bookstore in Waupaca, Wisconsin; Robin Green-Cary of Sibanye, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland; Luanne Kreutzer of St. Helens Book Shop in St. Helens, Oregon; Michelle Lewis of The Afro-American Book Stop in New Orleans, Louisiana; Susan Novotny of Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, New York; Beth Puffer of Bank Street Bookstore in New York City; Roberta Rubin of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Illinois; Meg Sherman of Chinook Bookshop in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Sandra Torkildson of A Room of One's Own Bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin; Michael Tucker of Books, Inc. in San Francisco, California; Donna Urey of White Birch Books in North Conway, New Hampshire; and Karen Watkins of Vroman's Book Store in Pasadena, California.

The Regulator Bookshop's Tom Campbell said he enjoyed his experience on the council. "I always feel that I get more value from doing these things than I contribute," he said. "[BAC] helps to gather ideas, concerns, and problems from all over the country and relay this information to the ABA Board and staff in a very unfiltered way, which I think is very healthy. I've enjoyed it, it's been valuable for me and for booksellers everywhere."

For a full list of BAC members, click here. -- Dave Grogan