The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association annual meeting was a heartfelt, bittersweet, rousing occasion, marking changes in the leadership of NAIBA--the executive director and president, both of whom are wildly popular and have made the organization into a thriving one that has accomplished much.
This was the final NVNR show before longtime executive director Eileen Dengler's retirement and the last meeting at which Hannah Oliver Depp of Loyalty Bookstores, Washington, D.C., was president. Dengler is being succeeded by Liz Hottel--the two have been working together on the transition this year--and Depp is succeeded by Erin Matthews, the Last Word Bookstore, Mt. Airy, Md.
Both Dengler and Depp were cheered and received standing ovations. (The exuberance resulted in some amusing cheering competition with the SIBA annual meeting next door.)
Some signs of NAIBA's strength: total membership in the past year grew 10%, to 334; 13% of owners are BIPOC; there are 33 prospective bookstore owners; and the association has a 98% retention rate. NAIBA has a healthy bank balance that is down slightly from a year ago, in part because of temporarily having two executive directors and because last year's NVNR hotel bill hadn't been paid yet, making for a negative comparison. The association also expanded its scholarships and grant programs to attend NVNR.
NAIBA's new executive committee includes president Erin Matthews; vice-president Kirsten Hess, The End Bookstore, Allentown, Pa.; secretary Hillary Smith, Black Walnut Books, Glen Falls, N.Y., and treasurer Julia Fleischaker, Greedy Reads, Baltimore, Md.
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| Hannah Oliver Depp | |
New board members include Justin Moore, Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books, Philadelphia, Pa., and Emily Hutton of Simon & Schuster. Outgoing board members, who were thanked profusely for their service, are Holly Ruck from Macmillan and K. Kerimian, the Nonbinarian, Brooklyn, N.Y.
In her report, Depp described her involvement with NAIBA and how, under Eileen Dengler, the organization has done so much to address her concerns. "I love this industry so much, but I have a lot of questions," she said. "I have a lot of concerns, and I have some issues, like who gets to be in what rooms."
She recalled going to her first NAIBA conference in 2010 "to be on a panel about the Twitters." She didn't like being the only non-white person in the room, and was referred to Dengler, who "was not defensive" and said, "What do you want to do about it? Let's go." That phrase, Depp continued, has been "NAIBA for the last 15 years."
She added, "Bookselling has a long way to go, but it's come a long way... The more NAIBA grows, the more members we have, the more store models, the better off the entire body is."
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During the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Town Square Tuesday morning, executive director Linda-Marie Barrett offered a state of SIBA update. Membership now stands at 373 active members, with 78 new members joining in 2026 so far. This marks a 64% growth in membership from 2025, with a 98% member retention rate and "excellent member engagement," Barrett said. She attributed some of that engagement to SIBA's new website, which launched this year.
Barrett also touched on several of SIBA's programs, including the March Madness series, the Jumpstart for New Members education series, and the Lunch & Learn series. March Madness, Barrett said, "continues to be a success," with the organization expanding support to cover the cost of transportation. The Jumpstart series is a four-week virtual education series for new members, while Lunch & Learn involves educational lunches with various industry partners. The next session will include the Professional Bookseller School.
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| SIBA board members: (l.-r.) Cristina Nossi (Books & Books), Bunnie Hilliard (Brave + Kind Bookshop), executive director Linda-Marie Barrett, Julia Davis (The Book Worm Bookstore), Dave Lucey (Page 158 Books), Melissa Taylor (E. Shaver, Booksellers), Krystle Dandridge (The Book Bar RVA), and Rayna Nielsen (Blue Cypress Books) | |
SIBA's finances, meanwhile, are "holding steady," said Barrett. While catalog revenue was less than expected, the organization "amped up" its outreach for publisher sponsors, who "came through for SIBA this year." Consequently, the association has been able to offer more sponsorships for both March Madness and New Voices New Rooms. More than 110 SIBA booksellers, representing more than 70 stores, attended NVNR this year.
SIBA board president Julia Davis (the Book Worm Bookstore, Powder Springs, Ga.) reported the board has been busy working on the organization's governance and structure. Historically the alliance has operated under the Carter model for nonprofits; the intention is to transition "out of Carter" in the near future. Davis noted the transition has been brought on by feedback from membership as well as shifts in the industry, and the intention is to make SIBA more inclusive and reflective of membership.
Lastly, Barrett mentioned some of the growing challenges that member stores have discussed with SIBA. Those include: the state of the economy and its impact on sales; financial stability and sustainability; developing additional revenue streams; the politically divisive culture; AI's impact on the industry and the environment; slower foot traffic and declining revenue per purchase; and a decline of visitors from outside of the U.S. impacting stores in tourist locations.