On the last morning of Winter Institute 2025 in Denver, Colo., booksellers convened for the American Booksellers Association's Community Forum. The event, which has come to replace the ABA's Town Hall, had a new structure this year and saw booksellers discuss the ABA's response to last year's Community Forum in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Ignite conference, legislation to protect independent bookselling, and more.
For a second year in a row, the largest topic of conversation at the Community Forum was Palestine. Once the floor opened to booksellers, the first remarks came from a Southern California bookseller who had spoken about the same topic last year in Cincinnati. She was joined at the microphone by other booksellers who had spoken, and asked "where has the ABA been?" She said that many who spoke out in Cincinnati have felt ignored, and she pointed to a contradiction in the way the ABA has "stood with and explicitly named other groups facing erasure" while remaining so quiet about Palestine aside from one statement in support of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, whose owners were recently arrested. She demanded the ABA stop ignoring ongoing discrimination and asked booksellers in attendance to stand in solidarity, with many in the room rising to their feet.
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| Allison Hill, with members of the ABA Board | |
ABA CEO Allison Hill said the organization has been supporting and providing resources to bookstores that have been harassed for their views and come under attack for selling books about Palestine or by Palestinian authors, to which two board members attested. Hill said that as a 501c6, the ABA has to represent everyone in the room, and there are "lots of viewpoints." With regard to the Educational Bookshop, Hill said the "erosion of the right to read" affects every bookseller, and that is within the ABA's mission as a trade association.
A Wisconsin bookstore owner expressed disappointment in the lack of a "clear, concrete response" from the ABA, and remarked that after so much time, hearing the same sorts of answers from the ABA about the same topic comes off as "disingenuous." It puts booksellers who volunteer their time for the ABA in a difficult position, she said, where they feel they are "not in alignment" with the association. She called for the ABA to be more intentional in its responses and warned that if these questions are not adequately addressed, people are going to get up and continue asking these questions "every year."
A bookseller who was on the board in 2017 recalled that after the Winter Institute Town Hall that year, when booksellers called for the ABA to diversify its board, the board went immediately into an emergency session and began making changes the next day. He contrasted the speed of that response with the lack of a response to last year's Community Forum in Cincinnati, and noted that in the intervening months bookstores have been attacked and intimidated. The lack of even a public statement saying it is not antisemitic for bookstores to "provide books to people who need them and want them," he said, hurts and offends.
Additionally, Nadia Alawa, owner of Mavey Books in Ardmore, Pa., discussed the pushback her 10-month-old store has faced for being Muslim-owned, and said that during a call in preparation for an ABA panel, there was a "direct request" to avoid talking about Palestine and Israel. Hill said she was not aware of the incident the bookseller mentioned and hoped to find out more information.
The co-owner of a bookstore and design studio in Denver, Colo., urged the ABA to develop relationships with "blue politicians" and help draft legislation that would reflect and assert the critical role independent bookstores play in the "experiment called American democracy." His suggestions included provisions that would protect the leases of independent bookstores, provide better banking terms, give bookstore employees eligibility for rent-controlled apartments, and see that indie bookstores receive the same tax benefits given to "massive corporations." When he asked others to stand in a show of support for the idea, nearly the whole room rose.
A bookseller who spoke out at last year's Community Forum urging the ABA to do more with regard to diversity took the floor Wednesday to "sincerely applaud" the ABA's efforts, particularly with the Ignite conference that preceded Wi, but stressed that things "cannot stop there." She further called for the ABA to compensate booksellers who perform DEI work for the organization, to show employee pay scales and wages, and to advocate for legislature similar to the laws in France that restrict the discounts on books. She also alleged "continued mistreatment" from the ABA, specifically related to conference attendance costs, which led to a tense exchange with ABA chief communications officer Ray Daniels.
In response to a question submitted prior to the Community Forum, Hill said the ABA is "100% committed" to continuing its DEI work, and that, if anything, the recent attacks on DEI have motivated the association to be stronger in its position and its work.
Fielding a pre-submitted question about Barnes & Noble's rapid expansion over the past few years, Hill asked for a show of hands to see how many booksellers have had new B&Ns open near them. Many hands were raised, and Hill noted that despite B&N CEO James Daunt's public comments about not moving into areas with indie bookstores, "we obviously know that's not true." While it's very clear that B&N is pursuing a strategy of aggressive growth, Hill said, indies have seen that before and have also seen the company close 1,000 stores. While Hill said she feels confident about indies in the long term, the ABA is actively trying to gather data on the exact impact that these openings are having on nearby bookstores. At the same time, B&N is "not doing anything illegal," so there is nothing the ABA can do from an advocacy point of view.
On the subject of tariffs and the impact they might have on booksellers, Hill said the association intends to lobby for exceptions, such as the exception on tariffs on children's books printed in China during Trump's first term, but things are "very much in motion" and she could not provide any concrete information. --Alex Mutter
[Editors' Note: Given the potential for harassment both online and off, Shelf Awareness has chosen to omit the names of many of the booksellers who spoke during the Community Forum. Should booksellers recognize their words and wish to have their name and bookstore mentioned, please reach out to alex@shelf-awareness.com]