The California Independent Booksellers Alliance has appointed two co-executive directors to succeed Calvin Crosby, who is leaving the association after becoming co-owner of The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The new co-executive directors are Ann Seaton, who is CALIBA's director of operations and will take on her new role on August 1, when Crosby leaves CALIBA, and Kristin Rasmussen, general manager of {pages} a bookstore in Manhattan Beach, who will start August 23.
The Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association merged to form CALIBA in January 2020, just as the pandemic was starting.
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| Ann Seaton | |
Before joining NCIBA as administrator/operations director six years ago, Seaton worked as a bookseller, buyer and manager in independent bookstores for more than 30 years, including most recently manager of Hicklebee's children's bookstore in San Jose. CALIBA said Seaton "has much gratitude for the ways she was embraced, educated, and supported by the booksellers, publishing professionals, and customers along the way. She looks forward to continuing this education and intends to pay it forward, being a resource and support for bookstores that make up the sacred spaces where books change lives and independent booksellers show the way."
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| Kristin Rasmussen | |
Kristin Rasmussen has managed {pages} a bookstore since 2017 during which time the store has grown and expanded. CALIBA said she "has worked very hard to build a team of diverse booksellers committed to meeting the needs of the community and expanding their reach nationally through growing their online and social media presence. Kristin is eager to apply her experience as a bookseller in both Northern and Southern California bookstores to help face the unique challenges that lie ahead and to ultimately enhance the value of CALIBA among its membership and the wider bookselling community."
Concerning the appointments, CALIBA board president Melinda Powers of Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, commented: "Given the magnitude of California, its influential economy and its concentration of excellent independent bookstores, we recognize the need for dynamic, visionary, and responsive leadership and believe our members will be best served by the collaborative power of Ann and Kristin as we expand beyond this past year of global shutdown and explore the true opportunity in a California Independent Booksellers Alliance. I am so excited for what lies ahead."