Spotlight on ABA Board and V.P. Candidate Russ Lawrence

American Booksellers Association Board of Directors ballots, which must be returned to accountant KPMG by May 4, feature the names of three candidates for the Board: Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana; Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco; and Collette Morgan of Wild Rumpus Books for Young Readers in Minneapolis. Lawrence is up for election to a second three-year term on the Board and for ratification for the first time as Vice-President/Secretary. Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in Coral Gables and Miami, Florida, is up for ratification for a second term as ABA President.

BTW recently had a chance to talk to Russ Lawrence about his bookstore and his focus as an ABA Board member.

Russ Lawrence owns Chapter One Book Store with his wife, Jean Matthews, and their business partner, Shawn Wathen. Lawrence and Matthews bought the bookstore, which recently celebrated its 31st anniversary, in 1986. Neither had bookselling experience. "I saw an ad that the bookstore was for sale," said Lawrence. "I thought, now there's a profession I haven't starved at yet. I had already starved at several others." Lawrence had a degree in forestry, but the early '80s were a "tough time" for that profession he said. He'd also worked as a freelance writer.

His 19 years of bookselling have taught him humility, said Lawrence. "The longer I'm in business the less I believe I know," he said. "I've been a buyer all these years, and it's still as much of a gut-instinct business as any other. You have to tune into your instincts, but you also need to have a really solid background to know what to do about your instincts." Lawrence said that educational programming offered by ABA and the regional associations has helped him further develop the necessary industry skills.

A true Renaissance man, in addition to his past work as a forester and writer, Lawrence is a private pilot and the president of the Hamilton Players, a local theater company.

Chapter One has been very involved in the community and local charities. "Our philosophy, which we don't broadcast, is to say yes to every [charity representative] who walks through the door," said Lawrence, adding that the charity must not be "morally repugnant." Conversely, he added, "We get to say no to every request over the phone."

The store is very involved with local literacy groups including the local chapter of Literacy Volunteers of America, LVA Bitterroot. Chapter One also works to help fundraise for local school libraries. "We're donating six dollars for every copy of Harry Potter bought here," said Lawrence. "The customer can decide which school library it goes to."

Lawrence is active in the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and has served on PNBA's Board and as its president. He has been an ABA Board member for the past three years, where literacy issues have been one of his key interests.

"One of the things that hit everyone at the summer Board meeting was the NEA report on the reading of literature in America," said Lawrence. "This is one of the things that has been sitting in the pit of my stomach ever since. It's difficult to address and booksellers can't do it alone. I want to continue to work on this in as many ways as possible."

Another important focus, said Lawrence, is helping independent bookstores maintain "critical mass." He explained, "Critical mass has different meanings for different people, but one meaning to me is to make sure that every reader in America has physical access to good, solid, independent bookstores. It's important to maintain the number and distribution of the independents."

When asked if he would do anything differently as vice president than he had as a Board member, Lawrence said, "Not really. Every meeting I go to I take a vow to listen more than talk, and I intend to continue that as vice president. It's a very engaged board and discussions always flow and are vigorous and heartfelt. I plan to continue to work on listening as my own personal growth plan. Not just listening to other Board members, but to all members." --Karen Schechner