[5]Under the American Booksellers Association’s Bylaws [6], any bookstore member may submit petitions to have the names of additional candidates added to the ballot for the 2017 Board of Directors elections. Upon receipt of valid petitions, additional director candidates will be added to the ballot, alongside the three candidates put forth by the ABA Nominating Committee and approved by the Board at its January meeting. Those candidates are:

• Kenny Brechner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers [7] in Farmington, Maine
• Jamie Fiocco of Flyleaf Books [8] in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (a current Board member who is eligible for a second three-year term)
• Christine Onorati of WORD [9] in Brooklyn, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey

Fiocco is coming to the end of her first three-year term as a Board director and is eligible for a second three-year term.

Qualified candidates for the offices of ABA president and vice president who are supported by valid petitions will be added to the ballot beside the Board’s selection of current ABA vice president Robert Sindelar of Third Place Books [10] in Lake Forest Park, Washington, for a two-year term as president, and Board member Fiocco for a two-year term as vice president. Their selection by the Board must be ratified by ABA membership.

Should bookstore members wish to submit a petition in support of additional candidates, the following apply:

• A candidate must be an employee or owner of an ABA member bookstore. The member bookstore must be in good standing, and the individual candidate must have at least three years’ experience in a bookstore-member company.
• Each petition can present only one candidate and, to be valid, must name a candidate who meets the qualifications for office established under the Bylaws [5].
• All petitions must be submitted by March 17, 2017, to the Chair, ABA Nominating Committee, c/o ABA, 333 Westchester Avenue, Suite S202, White Plains, New York 10604.
• The names on the petition in support of the candidate must reflect at least two percent of ABA Bookstore Members as of January 1, 2017; that is a minimum of 25 signatures. The petition must contain original signatures and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of bookstore members in at least five states, with representatives of no one state constituting more than 50 percent of the total number of petition signatures.

The ballot for the 2017 Board elections will be sent to ABA members via e-mail at the beginning of April, 60 days prior to the ABA Annual Membership Meeting, to be held on June 1 at New York City's Javits Convention Center during BookExpo [11]. The ballot will include space for write-in candidates.

Bookstore members who are working to circulate a petition are asked to contact Bookselling This Week [12] for future coverage.