September 2022 ABA Board Meeting

Tuesday, September 6, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm ET

The virtual September Board meeting began with Board Directors disclosing any dualities of interest as they might concern the agenda in the chat. (All Board Director dualities of interest are disclosed on BookWeb.) 

Board members shared one word about how they were doing that day, followed by CEO Allison Hill reminding directors in the chat of ABA's “commitment to antiracism, equity, access, and representation,” as stated in the ABA Ends Policies, and to prioritize that commitment as a Board and in each meeting.

Board President Christine Onorati welcomed everyone and reminded directors to submit their interest in running for Board Officer positions in the upcoming election.

The Board’s key priority at this meeting was a discussion with representatives from Ingram to address Ingram’s future plans and their impact on independent bookstores, as well as address concerns brought to the Board by ABA members. The representatives from Ingram who met with the Board were Donald Roseman, Vice President, General Manager Commercial Operations at Ingram Content Group and Ron Smithson, Director of Sales, Ingram Book Company.

After Ingram representatives left the call, Nominating Committee Chair Jake Cumsky-Whitlock and Nominating Committee Board member Melanie Knight announced the appointment of Rosa Hernandez of Third Place Books, Javier Ramirez of Exile in Bookville, and Josh Cook of Porter Square Books to the Nominating Committee for the 2023 Board Election. There will be at least two vacancies on the Board to fill in Spring 2023. (Nominations will be open until October 23, 2022.)

To conclude the meeting, Bylaws Committee Chair Tegan Tegani updated the Board on the work that she and Jeff Deutsch have done to prepare for the review of ABA’s bylaws, as discussed at the July Board meeting. The Board is preparing to discuss the bylaws at their quarterly October meeting. With this discussion concluded, the meeting was adjourned.