Booksellers Named to ABA Nominating Committee & Advisory Council

At its July meeting, the American Booksellers Association's Board of Directors unanimously approved appointments to the Nominating Committee and to the Booksellers Advisory Council, as put forth by ABA President Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona.

Joining ABA Board member Steve Bercu of BookPeople in Austin, Texas, who was previously named chair of the Nominating Committee, are:

• Board member Ken White of SFSU Bookstore in San Francisco
• Former ABA President Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana
• Andrea Avantaggio of Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado
• Kelly Justice of Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

Last year's Nominating Committee included Bercu; then-chair Beth Puffer of Bank Street Bookstore in New York City; Paul Hanson of Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island, Washington; Linda Ramsdell of The Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont; and Alison Reid of DIESEL, a Bookstore in Oakland, California.

The Nominating Committee is charged, under ABA's bylaws, with presenting Director candidates who, following approval by the Board, are placed on the ballot sent to bookstore members in the spring.

Booksellers joining the 25-member Booksellers Advisory Council, which offers the Board guidance and a broad cross-section of views on an array of matters of concern to the independent bookselling community, are:

• Megan Sullivan of Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Emily Pullen of Skylight Books in Los Angeles
• Casey Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California
• Mitch Gaslin of Food for Thought Books in Amherst, Massachusetts
• Judith Lafitte of Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Paul Hanson of Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island, Washington
• Tova Beiser of Brown University Bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island

BAC members whose average two-year terms ended at this past June's meeting in conjunction with BookExpo America are:

• Andrea Avantaggio of Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado
• Joan Grenier of Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts
• Mark Mouser of University Bookstore in Seattle, Washington
• Holly Myers of The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle
• Susan Weiss of breathe books in Baltimore, Maryland
• Catherine Weller of Sam Weller's Books, Salt Lake City, Utah