ABA Coffee Breaks to Be Held Throughout January

This year, the American Booksellers Association will continue hosting virtual Coffee Break events for member booksellers who would like to connect and talk with their colleagues from across the country.

Here are some important items to note for 2021:

• BIPOC Coffee Breaks will be held the second Thursday of every month.
• The Afternoon and Evening Coffee Breaks have a new ID and password for 2021. Email [email protected] for the credentials. 
• The quarterly New Member Coffee Break is becoming a New Member Coffee Break series that will consist of two sessions: an introduction to ABA benefits, which was introduced last quarter, and Store Ownership 101, which will provide new and prospective bookstore owners with an opportunity to ask questions of seasoned bookstore owners/staff (to take place February 8). New and new-ish members are welcome!
• Afternoon Coffee Breaks happen every Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
• Evening Coffee Breaks happen on the last Thursday of the month at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The schedule for January 2021 is as follows:

• Monday, January 11 at 1:00 p.m. ET: New Member Coffee Break, open to new and new-ish bookstores: In the first part of a series introducing the benefits of ABA, this session will offer a tutorial on navigating Bookweb.org to ensure a better understanding of where to find the information most vital for members. The presentation will look at education resources, networking and community, business affinity partnerships, marketing, advocacy, and much more. The end of the session will offer booksellers an open forum during which they can ask questions and talk with ABA staff. ​Registration is required.​
• Tuesday, January 12, at 3:00 p.m. ET: Afternoon Coffee Break, open to all booksellers
• Thursday, January 14, at 6:00 p.m. ET: BIPOC Coffee Break/Forum: ABA has been scheduling monthly BIPOC Coffee Breaks for Black, Indigenous, or People of Color booksellers and bookstore owners since the summer. ABA also began its first quarterly BIPOC forum in October for BIPOC members to share concerns and ideas with ABA CEO Allison Hill. On January 14, the two come together for a BIPOC gathering that combines the Coffee Break with the forum so that BIPOC booksellers can share ideas for future BIPOC Coffee Breaks; needs for ABA services, programming, and support in general; and questions, with ABA CEO Allison Hill, ABA COO Joy Dallangera-Sanger, ABA Senior Membership Manager Daniel O’Brien, and other members of the ABA team who will be in attendance. Booksellers interested in attending should email [email protected] for the session information.
• Tuesday, January 19, at 3:00 p.m. ET: Afternoon Coffee Break, open to all booksellers
• Tuesday, January 26, at 3:00 p.m. ET: Afternoon Coffee Break, open to all booksellers
• Thursday, January 28, at 8:00 p.m. ET: Evening Coffee Break, open to all booksellers