ABFFE Welcomes Three New Board Members

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) recently welcomed three new members to its board of directors: ABA Vice President Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona; Jack Buckley of Ninth Street Book Shop in Wilmington, Delaware; and Cecile Fehsenfeld of Schuler Books & Music in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Buckley and Fehsenfeld will serve three-year terms; Shanks will serve as long as her tenure as ABA vice president, under a provision adopted at the time of ABFFE's founding in 1990 to ensure that ABA's leading officers understand the First Amendment issues that affect booksellers.

Shanks and her husband, Bob Sommer, and a third partner opened Changing Hands in 1974. Over the years, the store, which began in a 500-square-foot space, has moved and grown to its current 13,000 square feet. Changing Hands sells new and used books, remainders, and gifts. Shanks is a past president of the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association and a current member of the ABA Education Task Force. She is also a past member of the Downtown Tempe Community Council and served as its first president.

Jack Buckley and his wife, Gemma, left their teaching careers in 1977 to open a bookstore. Today, their Ninth Street Book Shop, a 6,000-square-foot general bookstore, is located just one hundred feet away from the site of their original store. During almost 30 years of bookselling, the Buckleys have strived to adapt their business to the changing needs of their town. Jack Buckley is also a member of the board of directors of the North Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association. He is active in Common Cause of Delaware and has served on the board of the Red Clay School District.

Cecile Fehsenfeld started her book career with a job at a student bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and it was there that she met her husband, Bill. Cecile and Bill opened the first Schuler Books & Music in 1982. From 7,000 square feet and 27,000 titles, Schuler Books & Music has grown to include four locations. The flagship store occupies 35,000 square feet with an inventory of 100,000 titles and offers a full service gourmet cafe. Fehsenfeld and her husband are very active in the daily operation of the bookstores and within the community. She is currently a board member of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Early Childhood Commission, and the Hospice of Michigan Foundation.

Moving off the ABFFE Board were Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana; Cammie Mannino of Halfway Down the Stairs in Rochester, Michigan, and Michael Powell of Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon.