MSIBA Looks to Merge With Other Regionals

This week is proving to be a significant one for the Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA): In a February 8 letter sent to its bookstore and publishing members, MSIBA announced that it was actively seeking a merger with the Mountain & Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) and the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) and that, "due to family needs and obligations," Susan Kent would be resigning as MSIBA's executive director.

The decision to attempt to merge its membership into its "sister associations" came at MSIBA's Board meeting, which was held on February 6 and 7 in Austin, Texas, according to Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop and MSIBA's president. "It's something that the [MSIBA] Board has addressed in the past and the fact is that we are, by far, the smallest regional association." MSIBA has about 60 bookstore members.

Letters signed by Koehler that were e-mailed to MPBA and SEBA include a proposal to merge Texas and Oklahoma bookstores with MPBA and Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi member stores with SEBA.

In her letter to members, Koehler noted that "there are serious issues facing our regional trade association. While our 2004 trade show was highly educational, entertaining, and beneficial for the attendees, our attendance was severely down from previous years. There has been discussion about the reason for this, and there is no clear-cut answer. While we have wonderful, vibrant stores in our region, we have lost many due to closure in the last five years, and, while new stores are opening and joining, they do not have the resources or the experience needed to run this operation."

Koehler continued: "After ... hours of dialogue and skillful discussion, we have voted to pursue merging with our sister regional associations.... We continue to be dedicated to the friendships we have developed over the years and look forward to participating in strong regional associations that will be able to advocate for our member stores both to the publishers and our customers. We have set a fairly quick timeline in order to resolve the fiduciary responsibilities of our association."

Thus far, member response to the news has been "upbeat and positive," Koehler said, and added: "We think it's a strong positive move for our member stores."

As for Kent's timing in announcing her resignation, Koehler said it was unrelated to the Board's decision to seek a merger with MPBA and SEBA. Kent, who was employed part-time, "had already tendered her resignation privately in the last few weeks," Koehler noted. Kent's resignation will be effective as soon as a replacement is found, or in the case of the merger, until "all the paperwork and details are ironed out," she said. --David Grogan