Wanda Jewell, executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, is moving from Columbia, S.C., to San Francisco to be closer to her family. The changes will take place next year, in 2018.
Jewell said that she will continue to "keep East Coast hours" after the move, to facilitate daily SIBA work. Nonetheless, the organization is bringing on help to address the fact that one of its key executives will no longer be local. Linda-Marie Barrett has left her position as general manager of Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, N.C., and has been named assistant executive director at SIBA.
Barrett, who started her new job at SIBA on June 5, spent 29 years at Malaprop's and is a former co-owner of the store. She will be assuming some of Jewell's daily responsibilities up to, and after, the transition, including liaising with regional booksellers.
“I believe this will be good for SIBA," Jewell said. "I’ll have access to a whole new culture of bookselling. I’ll research new products, concepts, and ideas at work and bring them to SIBA booksellers. I’m investigating the possibility of sharing resources with NCIBA, as well as contacting new vendors,” she wrote.
