Tegan Tigani, ABA board member and children's book buyer at Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, Wash., was featured in the latest installment of Bookselling This Week's "Face Out" q&a series. Among our favorite exchanges:
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| Tegan Tigani | |
Did you hold other positions in the book industry before becoming a bookseller?
A part-time job at Queen Anne Avenue Books was my first job out of college. In high school, I worked in the school library, was president of the Library Club, and had the librarian as my advisor, so I had been on a bookish path for a while. Since becoming a bookseller, I have added to my book industry resume, though: I also work as a developmental editor for Girl Friday Productions and as a children's picture book acquisitions editor-at-large for Sasquatch Books.
How did you begin as a bookseller, and how long after starting in bookselling did you begin to feel that you had found a special vocation?
For two years after I moved to Seattle, I worked five days a week as the operations manager at the Children's Museum and one day a week at the bookstore. I'll never forget when a little girl came into the museum art activity I was leading and whispered loudly to her mom, "It's THE BOOKSTORE LADY!" That was the first time I really identified as a bookseller. Katie is still a customer, even after going off to college, and she still makes me proud to be a bookseller.
What do you think are some of the most important changes in bookselling since you joined your store?
As a children's book buyer, I am extremely excited about the call for increased diversity in publishing. The We Need Diverse Books movement continues to be such an inspiration and a change for good. It's a place where the children's book side of the industry is really leading the way. When more diverse characters are on the shelves of bookstores, more readers feel truly at home. Our stores can open up new worlds for readers, and more diverse books are an important part of that.