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| Carrie Obry | |
Carrie Obry is stepping down from her position as executive director of the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, effective immediately. The board of directors has appointed operations manager Grace Hagen as interim executive director while a search is conducted for a permanent successor. During this period, Hagen will work closely with the board and senior leadership to ensure continuity in all organizational operations, while advancing the priorities and goals of MIBA.
"We are grateful to Carrie for 15 years of dedication to our organization," said board president Kristen Sandstrom, manager of Apostle Islands Booksellers, Bayfield, Wis. "We are committed to making this a smooth transition and will continue our mission of strengthening independent bookstores throughout our region."
The board said it will begin a search in the coming weeks to find a candidate "who is passionate about fostering a vital and supportive bookselling community, advocating for the essential value of independent bookstores, and possesses the skills and vision necessary to lead MIBA into its next chapter. MIBA is grateful to Carrie Obry for her contributions, dedication, and commitment to MIBA over the past 15 years and wishes her well in future endeavors."
Obry had been executive director since 2010, when she joined what was then called the Midwest Booksellers Association. Earlier she was an acquisitions editor for Llewellyn Worldwide and an editor at Sourcebooks and Aspen Publishers. She had also worked independently editing, writing and consulting.