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Reminder: Candidates Sought for 2018 ABA Board Elections
The American Booksellers Association’s Nominating Committee, chaired by Jonathon Welch of Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo, New York, is searching for qualified candidates for the ABA Board of Directors. Any ABA member may nominate a qualified candidate, including themselves. Given ABA’s commitment to diversity in all its meanings, the committee strongly encourages members to nominate all interested candidates.
“Hearing from the membership regarding whom they believe should be considered as a possible board candidate is absolutely critical to ABA’s governance,” said ABA Board member and nominating committee chair Welch. “The Board has been grateful for all the comments and feedback from members on association governance, especially at recent Town Halls, and ABA hopes that now we will hear from members regarding qualified board candidates, too.”
A nominee for the Board of Directors must be an ABA member who is the owner or employee of an independent bookstore with a storefront location that is operated according to sound business principles. In addition, a candidate must have at least three years of recent experience as the owner or employee of a member company. It is also desirable that nominees have at least two years’ experience as an active volunteer in ABA and/or in a regional association or other constituency organization. Qualifications are outlined in the “ABA Nomination and Election Guidelines” from the ABA Governance Policy Manual.
The committee requests that nominations be submitted as soon as possible but no later than October 31, 2017, via the online nomination form available here. Nominations should include as much information as possible about a prospective candidate. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
The slate for the 2018 Board of Directors elections will be announced approximately 120 days prior to the next ABA Annual Membership Meeting, which will be held in conjunction with BookExpo in New York City, scheduled for May 30–June 1, 2018.
Serving with Welch on this year’s Nominating Committee is ABA Board member Annie Philbrick of Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut, and Savoy Bookshop & Café in Westerly, Rhode Island; Kristen Gilligan of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, Colorado; Melanie McNair of Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café in Asheville, North Carolina; and Andy Perham of Books Inc. in San Francisco, California.