The SIBA Board of Directors has announced the slate for the 2024 Board Elections. Two seats are coming open, held by Janet Geddis of Avid Bookshop, who is completing her second term, and Julia Davis, The Book Worm Bookstore, who is seeking re-election.

In addition, the board will be expanded by two seats to increase member representation, as set out in SIBA's newly revised bylaws, approved in the spring.

The slate:

Julia Davis, The Book Worm Bookstore, Powder Springs, GA
Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books, New Orleans, LA
Cristina Nosti, Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL
Lucile Perkins-Wagel, Blinking Owl Books, Fort Myers, FL
Melissa Taylor, E. Shaver, bookseller, Savannah, GA
Nicole Yasinsky, Novel., Memphis, TN 

Voting is open now and will close on September 19, 2024. Each SIBA bookstore that is a current member has one vote. VOTE HERE

Stores can log in to check their membership status and contact nicki@sibaweb.com if they have questions about their account.

JULIA DAVIS

Bio:
Julia R. Davis (she/her) was elected to the SIBA Board in 2021 and is currently serving as SIBA's President. In that capacity she has guided the organization through major changes, included the adoption of SIBA's revised bylaws in 2024. She was born and raised in New York. She spent over 15 years in the legal profession with 7 of those years managing law firms. Davis took ownership of The Book Worm Bookstore, located in historic Downtown Powder Springs, Georgia, in November 2020 when the former owner retired. Ms. Davis’ passion for promoting self-love and literacy has become the foundation that The Book Worm stands on.  The store's motto is "Where love is shared as much as stories!"

Julia also hosts a series of children’s events, appropriately titled “I Love ME!” designed to encourage children to love themselves as they are. In February 2014, Ms. Davis published her first children’s book “I Love me because….I’m DIFFERENT.” Currently, there are eight published picture books, one Chapter Book, and various self-love items in the continually growing I LOVE ME! Book Series.

Statement: 
It has been an honor to serve on the Board these past 3 years. During that time we have been able to update our Bylaws to help us expand our membership to be more reflective of the diversity of this growing community of booksellers. The SIBA team continues to work hard in providing programming to help our community grow, remain diverse, and continue to stand out. We still have some work to do and I would love to continue another term to help our industry and region grow well beyond what the world expects of the bookselling community.

RAYNA NIELSEN

Bio:
Rayna Nielsen’s formal training is in travel and tourism but her lifelong career is bookselling. She began her bookselling career in her home state of Florida then continued after moving to Louisiana in 2005. She has spent over a decade as a bookseller at independent bookstores in New Orleans, including her current position as Event Specialist at Blue Cypress Books. She is the creator and host of Book Banter, a virtual event series and she currently serves as President of the Independent Bookseller Association of Greater New Orleans.

Statement:
I am passionate about independent bookselling and would be honored for the opportunity to celebrate and grow the world of independent bookselling in the South by serving on the SIBA board.

CRISTINA NOSTI

Bio:
Cristina Nosti is Director of Events and Programming at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida. She programs and helps to market over 600 events a year. As a Latina-identified person, her approach is community-centric and interdisciplinary and stems from her background in the arts. Before coming to Books & Books, Cristina worked as Development Director for the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami. She was the Executive Director of the Cuban Museum of Art & Culture, in the early 90s, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Oscar B. Cintas Foundation to award fellowships in the arts to creators of Cuban descent. She has also worked as General Manager of Miami Dade College’s Department of Cultural Affairs and as Author Liaison for Miami Book Fair. She has also worked in Hollywood, California as a reader of screenplays and in the television industry (her father was a pioneer of Spanish-language programming in the United States). She lives in Coral Gables, Florida with her partner, the ghost of their beloved dog and lots and lots of books.

Statement:
It’s all about paying it forward. After working for Mitchell Kaplan for 22 years, I think I’ve learned a thing or two about the art of bookselling. Now, I’d like to share what I know with others and try to make a difference in our industry, especially for a future generation of booksellers. I think I have a lot to give and I would be proud to serve.

LUCILE PERKINS-WAGEL

Bio:
Hey y’all! I’m the owner of Blinking Owl Books in Fort Myers, Florida, a US Air Force veteran, and a queer Florida swamp witch! I absolutely adore talking about books with anyone who’s willing (especially the spicy and/or spooky ones), and I feel incredibly honored every day to be able to share stories with others for a living!

Statement:
Indie booksellers are genuinely some of my favorite people in the whole wide world! I would absolutely relish the opportunity to be able to give back to the Southern bookselling community, and would be honored to be able to offer the SIBA board my unique perspective not only as a Florida bookseller, but also as someone who has worked as a frontline bookseller, an assistant manager, and now an owner who does *all of the things* at her own store!

MELISSA TAYLOR

Bio:
Melissa Taylor is a bookseller with over 20 years of industry experience. She is currently the co-owner of E. Shaver, Bookseller which was named Best Bookstore in the South by the readers of Southern Living and is also included in the book 150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before You Die. She is the cohost of the podcast Pull Your Shelf Together and serves on the Binc Finance Committee. She lives in Savannah with her husband (a former bookseller) and their two rescue dogs.

Statement:
I would like to serve on the SIBA board because I strongly believe in the work that SIBA does to help booksellers. I think that my knowledge and experience could help other booksellers face the challenges in our industry. As a board member, I would also like to address larger issues in our industry like making bookselling sustainable.

NICOLE YASINSKY

Bio:
Nicole Yasinsky is currently the Marketing Manager at Novel in Memphis,TN. She started her bookselling journey at Davis-Kidd Booksellers way back in the late 1900s, and immediately knew that she had found her people. This was before bookstores had the internet, in a time when they were fighting to keep up with big box stores, and before anyone knew exactly what a Jeff Bezos was, or how he would impact the world of bookselling and bookstores for years to come.

Her bookselling career has spanned 26 years, 3 different indie bookstores (in the exact same spot!), a whole lot of challenges, and sparked a life-long love affair with the book industry. About half of her years were dedicated to running the Children's Department, before a shift in gears to head up the Marketing team, and eventually helping put together a whole new bookstore (Novel) after the liquidation of The Booksellers at Laurelwood in 2017.

Statement:
In my time as a bookseller, I have seen the innumerable benefits of SIBA membership -- the free exchange of knowledge, the dedication to helping bookstores of all kinds, and the strength of a community that knows we are all connected and that our industry is its best when we help each other succeed. It would be an honor to serve on the SIBA board to further my commitment to our region and our industry by rolling up my sleeves and getting to work to show up for booksellers in the South.