Letter from Board President Tegan Tigani

Dear Fellow Booksellers, 

Thank you to all who spoke up at the ABA Board Community Forum at Winter Institute and to everyone who is a part of our committed and engaged membership. 

Since my last letter and since the Community Forum in Cincinnati, the Board met several times to process feedback we received in the forum and through other connections with members.

The Board has been discussing the various points of view represented by our membership. We acknowledge the horrors happening in the world as well as the importance of focusing our energies on what impacts we can make. 

According to our Ends Policies, ABA’s main mission is, essentially, to help independent bookstores stay in business. We have to prioritize our limited time and financial resources to directly support those ends. As a trade organization, the American Booksellers Association’s role is to offer member bookstores the education, resources, and tools they need to operate successfully. Our bookstores must survive to do important work in their communities and beyond.

In keeping with these priorities, the Board would like to acknowledge the admirable and brave work booksellers and bookstores do. The ABA Board and staff support you, your stores, and your right to free expression. 

The Board and the ABA staff have already taken steps to address the concerns raised by Black booksellers in the Community Forum, especially the need to ensure that Black booksellers feel supported, welcomed, and heard. Some ideas from the Board include reaching out personally to the Black booksellers who will be attending Children’s Institute, visiting with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (DEIC) to thank DEIC members and get to know each other better when we have in-person meetings, working with regional presidents to share ideas for support and inclusion, hosting events in person and/or online with the Board and Black booksellers, contacting Black-owned bookstores to touch base, welcoming new Black bookseller members with emails, calls, and in-store visits when possible, and as we review our Ends Policies annually, considering whether Ends need to be changed to improve support of Black booksellers and BIPOC booksellers. We are also examining our Board Nominations process and pipeline. We appreciate the emotional labor being done. Antiracism is ongoing, continuous work; work that the ABA Board and staff are fervently committed to doing. 

Another thing the Board is working on is how to improve our linkage with members. We want to encourage continued productive engagement. We are all busy booksellers, and there are many different communication styles and preferences; we want to try to cover as many bases as we can so we hear from you.

We invite you to reach out to the Board through our email, [email protected]. Please join us for virtual Office Hours. Be a part of our Annual Meeting and Community Forum. We are exploring ways to connect, possibly including surveys, videos, and a space for you to drop in to chat with us, your Board Directors, at a table at in-person events. 

The Board tries to set course for bookstores’ success. What organizational priorities will help get you there? Your participation in surveys like ABACUS, the annual Membership Survey, and the annual Publisher Survey provide crucial data for the organization — ways to find our bearings as bookstores. Your anecdotes and observations are essential for the ABA Board to recognize, anticipate, and prepare for changes in our industry so we can guide our Association. 

We appreciate your feedback and input. We appreciate your time and energy. We appreciate you. 

Sincerely, 
Tegan Tigani, ABA Board President and Children’s Book Buyer/Bookseller at Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, WA