A Talk With ABA Board Candidate Beth Puffer

Beth Puffer

American Booksellers Association Board of Directors ballots, which must be received by accountant KPMG no later than April 24, feature the names of two new candidates for Board Directors: Beth Puffer of Bank Street Bookstore in New York City and Becky Anderson of Anderson's Bookshops in Naperville and Downers Grove, Illinois. Their names appear along with those of Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, who is up for a second three-year term as a Director and a one-year term as Vice-President/Secretary, and Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, for a first term as ABA President.

BTW recently had a chance to talk to Puffer about Bank Street and her focus if elected to the ABA Board.

Beth Puffer joined the staff of Bank Street Bookstore in New York City in 1986, when it was in a 500-square-foot space on West 112 Street. Currently Bank Street's manager and buyer, she has seen the store through several expansions and a move to its present two-story, 4,000-square-foot building on Broadway. Puffer originally visited Bank Street as a sales rep, discovered their children's book buyer was leaving, and took the job. Since then she's served as the "manager, buyer, chief cook, and bottle washer," she said.

Puffer's first bookselling position was in college. "It was the best job I ever had," she said, but she took a hiatus from bookselling to become a teacher. On a holiday break, 33 years ago, she picked up a temporary job at Brentano's on Fifth Avenue and never left bookselling. "I was very lucky because I had really good managers," she explained. "They taught me and inspired me. They were a large part of why I stayed in the business."

Bank Street Bookstore, which celebrated its 35 anniversary last fall, is owned by the Bank Street College. Serving both the college and the neighboring community, the store stocks children's and adult titles, teacher supplies and curriculum guides, games and plush gifts, but no textbooks. "We have great collections of picture books for children of all races and religions," Puffer said.

Bank Street is involved with various community organizations. The bookstore serves as a drop-off point for books to be donated to a New Orleans school. Bank Street also helps to provide books to "Room to Grow," a New York organization that provides extensive support for mothers who live in poverty.

Puffer has served as a past Board member of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and on ABA's Booksellers Advisory Council. She was a founding member of the New York/New Jersey Booksellers Association and is the outgoing treasurer of the Association of Booksellers for Children.

If elected to the Board, Puffer would like to focus on growing the relationship between booksellers and publishers. "Our regional association had a meeting to focus on issues we'd like to discuss with publishers," she said. "The next thing I knew [ABA organized] publisher focus groups were announced. I was delighted someone else had the same thought. I know that on both sides everyone was pleased. I would like to continue that discussion."

"Another vital issue," said Puffer, "is educating the public about independent bookstores. I think we have a long way to go. We usually do that one on one, but I think we need to do it on a much grander scale. It's vital to our survival." --Karen Schechner