The Canadian Booksellers Association members decided at an annual general meeting in Toronto yesterday to “explore becoming a division” of the Retail Council of Canada, said its vice president Christopher Smith.
Smith said the board members could not say more until an official communication had been sent out to CBA members who weren’t able to attend the meeting.
The CBA has been facing financial difficulties, and members were asked to vote on dissolving the organization entirely or to join the retail council, which the CBA has been affiliated with for a few years.
Heather Kuipers, owner of the Toronto children’s bookstore Ella Minnow, said she had been undecided about how she would vote going into the meeting. “There were a number of us who were very much interested in looking at some other options, but there just wasn’t the time or the will amongst the larger group to do that,” she said. “If you are faced with the either-or, you have to take the one that is not your own demise.” No one wanted to the association to disappear, so the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of joining the retail council, Kuipers said.
CBA president Mark Lefebvre said an official announcement would be ready soon and he would be able to comment and offer more information then.
