SIBA staff has been working diligently on our new membership system and website, and a large part of our system transition is ensuring the membership database holds accurate data and that we're collecting all the data we need to best serve our members. This means going line by line through every member bookstore to ensure records are accurate and reviewing and creating all the fields of data we both currently collect and want to collect going forward. As Membership Coordinator, the project of reviewing every bookstore member record has been interesting and informative. I've really enjoyed learning so much about all of our member stores, and I feel like I'll be able to serve everyone better because of it. 

While reviewing bookstore data, I’ve been able to collect some interesting membership statistics to share. One caveat on this data: these percentages are based on information stores have given us and that I have gleaned from looking at every store’s website and social media. If information about a store was not apparent, it would not be included here. That being said, SIBA’s membership is so diverse!

Business Model Statistics

• 43 current bookstore members are bookstore models beyond the traditional bookstore (around 15% of our membership)
• 49 stores have a bar and/or cafe element, which is about 17% of our membership
• 13 stores are "combo" stores that are not bars/cafes, including plant stores, record stores, pottery, tea shops, and art galleries
• 14 are boutique stores sharing space with other businesses
• 13 are pop-ups
• 7 are online only serving niche communities (not doing pop-ups)
• 5 are nonprofit or mutual aid based
• 3 are worker-owned or cooperative
• 2 are bookmobiles
• 2 are micro stores

Bookstore Niche Statistics

SIBA has 43 niche stores:

• 11 children's stores
• 9 romance stores
• 5 Black interest stores
• 3 general BIPOC interest stores
• 3 stores that focus on all underrepresented voices
• 2 activist/radical stores
• 2 genre fiction (general) stores
• 2 LGBTQ+ interest stores
• 1 cookbooks store
• 1 horror store
• 1 wellness/care store

There is also some crossover here in niches, for example, most of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ interest stores and the two radical/activist stores also cover other underrepresented voices.

Collecting this information has been extremely eye-opening and interesting for SIBA, as we have learned quite a bit about our membership, including discovering that between varying business models and niche stores, about half of our membership operates outside of the traditional general bookstore model!

When you log into our new system for the first time, you will notice that we have added several new categories in your store profile, including store model and niche. SIBA would love to collect this information to help us in looking for panelists for education events and New Voices New Rooms, selecting mentors for new stores, passing along opportunities, and generally getting to know our membership better. Please be sure to review and fill out all the information in your new store profile!