Make Your Voice Heard – Vote for ABA Officers/Board of Directors and the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

Booksellers are reminded that by now they should have received by mail from ABA ballots for both the 2002 ABA Officers/Board of Directors and the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards.

Appearing on the ballot for members’ ratification is the slate of officers elected by the ABA Board at its January meeting. The Board chose:

• Ann Christophersen of Women & Children First, Chicago, as President and
  
• Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida, as Vice President/Secretary.
  

Nominated as candidates for the upcoming elections are:

• Neal Coonerty of Book Shop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California;
  
• Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and
  
• Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana.
  

Coonerty and Pohrt are current members of the Board who are eligible to seek one additional three-year term as Board members. Lawrence, a former president of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, is also a former member of the ABA Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC).

Biographical background on all the candidates has been included with the ballots. In addition, the ballots provide the opportunity for booksellers to vote for write-in candidates.

Also sent to booksellers in the special mailing was the ballot for the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards. (For more on the finalists, click here.) The results of the voting for the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards will be kept secret until the winners are announced at the Celebration of Bookselling on Friday, May 3, at this year's BookExpo America held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Booksellers are strongly encouraged to make their voices heard in the balloting process for both the Board elections and the voting for the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards. Importantly, ballots for Board candidates must be returned in the enclosed postage-paid envelope, postmarked by April 3, 2002, to ABA’s election inspector at KPMG, Peat Marwick. Board ballots returned in other envelopes or faxed back will be invalid.

Ballots for the Book Sense Book of the Year may be returned in the same envelope as the Board ballots. Booksellers can also print out the Book Sense Book of the Year ballot by clicking here. This ballot may be faxed to KPMG at (212) 872-6750, Attn: Charlene Laniewski. The deadline for faxes is April 10, 2002.