The American Booksellers Association’s Board of Directors [6] held its summer meeting from Wednesday, July 23, to Friday, July 25, 2014, at ABA’s headquarters in White Plains, New York.

Over the course of the meeting, the Board:

• Heard a report by ABA CEO Oren Teicher on his activities since the last Board meeting, in May 2014, including:
  • Welcoming to the meeting Tim Godfray [7], chief executive of the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom and Ireland [8], as a guest of the Board;
  • Meeting with senior executives of Reed Exhibitions to discuss next year’s BookExpo America [9] and BookCon [10];
  • Working with the Main Street Alliance [11] and other allies to advocate in Washington, D.C., on behalf of sales tax fairness;
  • Helping to direct ABA’s efforts in assisting Washington’s Politics & Prose [12], which has been selected [13] as the official bookseller for the 14th Annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, to be held on August 30, 2014, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center;
  • Working with staff on formulating ABA’s Ends Policy compliance reports for presentation to the Board;
  • Meeting, together with ABA Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger, with senior executives at Ingram Content Group to discuss matters of mutual interest, including the upcoming Winter Institute (Wi10) in Asheville, North Carolina, which will be held from February 8 to 11, 2015;
  • Attending a meeting of the Board of Directors of World Book Night U.S., which recently announced that it would be suspending operations [14];
  • Planning with staff for the association’s participation in the fall regional trade shows and on programming for Wi10;
  • Conducting a conference call with the executive directors of the regional booksellers associations to discuss possible areas of cooperation and collaboration regarding the second annual celebration of California Bookstore Day [15], which will take place on May 2, 2015;
  • Recent travel, which included, at the invitation and expense of the host organization, attending and speaking at the Book Business Conference 2014, in Seoul, South Korea.

• Heard a report from ABA President Steve Bercu of BookPeople [16] in Austin, Texas, on his activities on behalf of the association, including:
  • Attending, with Board Member Robert Sindelar of Third Place Books [17] in Lake Forest Park, Washington, the Booksellers Advisory Council [18] (BAC) meeting that was held at the conclusion of BEA 2014. Among the highlights were an update on the BAC’s discussions regarding Indies First/Small Business Saturday; feedback provided by the BAC regarding programming at BEA; and assistance in formulating educational programming for Wi10;
  • Attending the annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses [19] in late June and participating at that meeting with Jeff Mayersohn of Harvard Book Store [20] in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and ABA Board member Jonathon Welch of Talking Leaves Books [21] in Buffalo, New York, on the panel “What’s New at Indie Bookstores.”

• With Board approval, ABA President Bercu appointed Sara Hines of Eight Cousins Bookstore [22] in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and Sarah Goddin of Quail Ridge Books & Music [23] in Raleigh, North Carolina, as new members of the Booksellers Advisory Council.
   
• Heard a presentation from the BA’s Godfray on his association’s activities over the last year, including the national “Books Are My Bag” promotion [24].
   
• Received an update from CEO Teicher about ABA’s plans regarding the second annual celebration of California Bookstore Day. He noted that the association will be providing financial and other in-kind support for Bookstore Day celebrations and will work closely with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and the other regional associations that choose to participate.
   
• Heard a report from Membership and Marketing Officer Meg Smith on the results of 2014 Membership Satisfaction Survey.
   
• Reviewed the 2014 compliance reports from staff in regards to ABA’s Ends Policies [25] and reviewed those policies. After discussion, the Board approved changes to clarify the articulation of the policies. The Board updated Ends Policy D(1) to read:
  • Member stores will be represented within groups of appropriate allies dealing with issues of literacy, culture, diversity, and the development of new readers.

• Received a briefing from ABA Member Technology Director Neil Strandberg on a number of tech-related issues, ranging from ongoing discussions with companies developing applications and business strategies relevant to member stores’ operations (including e-books) to the status of IndieCommerce’s migration from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7.
   
• Met with William King, senior vice president of Merrill Lynch, and Richard A. Janus, chief information officer, Victory Capital Management, who reviewed the performance of the association’s investment portfolio.
   
• Heard an update from Board Member Sarah Bagby of Wichita, Kansas’ Watermark Books and Café [26], who is also a member of the LIBRIS Board, and CEO Teicher on ABA’s LIBRIS insurance program [27].
   
• Heard a report from ABA Senior Strategy Officer Dan Cullen and Senior Program Officer Dallanegra-Sanger on the ongoing planning for ABA’s participation in the fall regional trade shows and for Winter Institute 2015.
   
• Heard a report from Senior Program Officer Dallanegra-Sanger on ABA’s plans for assisting member stores’ participation in AmEx’s Small Business Saturday [28] initiative.