Voting Underway for ABA Board Election

On Friday, March 26, the American Booksellers Association opened the ballot for the 2021 ABA Board election. One person per ABA Member ID number may vote.

Cast your vote for the 2021 Board of Directors election now.

Learn more about the candidates up for election here.

A BookWeb login and the store ID number are required to place a vote. All voting is being conducted electronically on BookWeb, and ballots are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on April 27. Ballots submitted after that will not be counted.

Recommended to stand for election to three-year terms (2021-2024) are:

• Danny Caine of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas
• Jake Cumsky-Whitlock of Solid State Books in Washington, D.C.
• Kelly Estep of Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
• Melanie Knight of Books Inc. in San Francisco, California
• Angela Maria Spring of Duende District in Albuquerque and Washington, D.C.

Caine has not previously served on the ABA Board. Cumsky-Whitlock and Knight were appointed to the board in September 2020, following member-approved bylaws changes that grew the board to 13 directors (from 11) and required at least four directors to be Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. Estep and Spring are coming to the end of their first three-year terms on the board and are eligible for a second three-year term. 

In a related action, the board selected current ABA Vice President Bradley Graham of Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., for a two-year term as ABA president, and Estep and Christine Onorati of Word Bookstores in Brooklyn, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey, as ABA co-vice president/secretary. Their selection by the board must be ratified by ABA membership.

Leaving the board are ABA Board President Jamie Fiocco of Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who is coming to the end of her two-year term as president, and Pete Mulvihill of Green Apple Books in San Francisco.

Michelle Malonzo of Changing Hands in Tempe, Arizona, is joining the board to serve the remainder of director Chris Morrow's two-year term, which ends in 2022. Morrow, who owns Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Manchester Center, Vermont, is leaving the board for personal reasons.

Election results will be announced in Bookselling This Week. The ballot also includes space for write-in candidates. Learn more about the ABA Board election process here.

Questions about the ABA elections should be addressed to ABA President Jamie Fiocco or CEO Allison Hill. Stores that dont receive a link to the ballot on Friday should contact ABA Senior Membership Manager Daniel O’Brien.