In remarks at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance online annual meeting on November 14, board president Julia Davis of the Book Worm Book Store in Powder Springs, Ga., acknowledged the difficult year SIBA booksellers across the South have endured, due to hurricanes and other natural catastrophes. In her remarks, executive director Linda-Marie-Barrett noted how many booksellers and others stepped up to provide assistance and resources to booksellers contending with Hurricane Helene.
“We had our first opportunity this year to activate our emergency plan for the sudden loss of the executive director,” she noted, recalling that she had no power for 12 days at her Asheville, N.C., home. Three days after Helene swept through Asheville, Barrett was able to “finally communicate with the staff and board by text from a church parking lot a few miles down the road.”
SIBA personnel stepped up during that time to provide lists of resources on the association's website, and also reached out to booksellers in the impacted areas to inform them of resources available to them. “We're continuing this effort by asking our members to update emergency information and press contacts in the event of a future occurrence,” Barrett said, “which is quite likely to happen in our region.”
Barrett also announced that she was “thrilled” that New Voices New Rooms, the collaboration between SIBA and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association that launched as a virtual conference in 2020, will be held in Atlanta in 2025. NVNR 2026 will take place in Baltimore, and NVNR 2027 will take place in Arlington, Va.
NVNR became an in-person gathering in August 2023, taking place in Arlington, Va., that year and again this year. While there were significantly more NAIBA booksellers attending NVNR in 2023 than SIBA booksellers, there was a 20% spike in SIBA bookseller attendance in 2024. While Barrett noted that the date and hotel venue have not been set for NVNR 2025, some booksellers questioned if the conference would still take place in August.
Jamie Fiocco, the owner of Flyleaf Bookstore in Chapel Hill, N.C. pointed out that it’s difficult to send booksellers to NVNR while also keeping the store fully staffed, due to families going on vacation. “We will attend whenever it is, but dang it's been a struggle in August,” she wrote in the Zoom Chat. “Maybe it's easier for others? Would love a solid analysis of how it's going from the perspective of other booksellers, publishers and others.” Barrett responded that SIBA and NAIBA were “open to re-evaluation” and promised to survey the membership.
In SIBA’s newsletter, sent out minutes after the meeting began, Barrett emphasized that there was strong support among both the NAIBA and SIBA boards for an Atlanta conference. “The Atlanta area bookstores are excited to share their spaces and missions," she stated. "Atlanta is a vibrant city with a strong and diverse bookselling culture.”
NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler agreed: “NAIBA booksellers will now have the opportunity to visit an amazing city for bookselling. We’ll incorporate bookstore visits and visits to America’s Mart to make this a unique opportunity for booksellers. Our team at NVNR continues to create an experience of unparalleled education, networking, and joy.”
