Caught by surprise last week by the unexpected resignation of Lanora Haradon, the owner of the Next Chapter Bookstore in Mequon, Wisconsin, who closed her store on September 11, the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association announced Monday that bookseller Chris Livingston has been appointed interim president of its board. Livingston, the owner of the Book Shelf in Winona, Minnesota, and a MIBA board member from 2008-2011, served as board president prior to Haradon, whose term began in January 2012.
“He’s a great leader,” Carrie Obry, MIBA’s executive director, told PW. “He ran the membership meeting last year, and will run it again this year.”
MIBA’s board will begin the process of appointing a new board member after the Heartland Fall Forum, which runs October 3-5 in Minneapolis. That individual, who will be a bookseller, will also assume the responsibilities of board president, as Obry told PW, "everybody on the board right now is happy with their positions." MIBA’s board currently includes four booksellers since Haradon’s departure, plus two representatives from the publishing community. Board members serve three-year terms, with board officers serving two years in those positions. Wisconsin Historical Society Press director Kathy Borkowski will continue to serve as MIBA’s vice president.
MIBA has more than 200 bookstore members and 200 non-bookseller members in a 10-state region stretching across the Midwest.
