The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance again hosted New Voices, New Rooms, their joint conference, which was held over the weekend at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. The conference highlighted a range of authors and new books (see below!), featured all kinds of opportunities for booksellers to talk shop, and emphasized solutions and strategies for dealing with the many challenges facing bookstores, including book bannings, inflationary pressures, and more. As NAIBA president Hannah Oliver Depp of Loyalty Bookstores, Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Md., put it at the association's annual meeting, "Our rights are under attack. But we fight for people to be able to read what they love." Both she and American Booksellers Association CEO Alison Hill, who also spoke, reminded booksellers that they can attend school board meetings, write online letters, and work at the school, city, and state level to show up and be heard.
Welcome to NVNR: (from l.) Nicki Leone, community administrator, SIBA; Candice Huber, membership coordinator, SIBA; and Kit Little, executive administrator, NAIBA, greeted booksellers on the opening day of the conference.
Moderator Bunnie Hilliard (center), Brave + Kind Bookshop, Decatur, Ga., zeroed in on the contributions of women in the formation of the present-day United States during Friday's Power and Politics luncheon, when she interviewed authors (l.) Juanita Tolliver (A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisolm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics, Hachette, February 10, 2025) and Rebecca Graham (Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany, Citadel/Kensington, January 21, 2025).
Friday night's Indie Press Authors Reception offered booksellers the chance to catch up with one another, mingle with authors, and get books signed. Dava Sobel signed copies of The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science (Atlantic Monthly Press, Oct. 8) alongside her editor, George Gibson.
V Efua Prince (r.) signed her book Kin: Practically True Stories (Wayne State University Press) for Kelly Rivera, Crooked Shelf Bookshop, Lewistown, Pa.
Andi Richardson, Fountain Books, Richmond, Va., cast her secret ballot for the best conditions for reading a book (Day vs. Night; Coffee vs. Tea, etc.).
For Saturday's Genre Book Buzz, booksellers could choose from a variety of themed tables (YA, fantasy, horror, romance, BIPOC, etc.) to talk about titles submitted by publishers, how they organize and market the section in their stores, or anything else on their minds. At the Cookbooks discussion, Doug Robinson (Eagle Eye Books, Decatur, Ga.) donned a chef's hat to lead the conversation. Robinson, a craftsman, explained how he made a wooden "Cooking Station" in his store to host cooking demos by cookbook authors.
Binc executive director Pam French (r.) announced that Binc had raised $2,970 from booksellers attending NVNR. Suzanne Lucey (Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, N.C.) won Binc's Heads or Tails game, and will donate her $250 winnings to New Kids on the Books Literacy Project, a cause that her bookstore supports. (photo: Ryan Grover)