The mission of the Educational Book and Media Association is to foster a unique community that brings together a wide range of wholesalers and publishers in order to address the ever changing book & media buying needs of the educational marketplace.
Letter from the President
As you know, April Showers bring May flowers. May also brings an EBMA Board meeting and the follow up newsletter. Thanks to our Board, the Program Co-Chairs, various committees, and a number of industry topics, we covered a lot of ground at our recent Board meeting.
Notably all of the Board members are now active on unique committees intended to enhance the EBMA mission and progress. The results of these activities provide our members with opportunities, which include informational webinars and better access to topics driving the book industry.
Another key item takeaway was an amendment to the EBMA bylaws permitting the term for the president-elect to be initiated earlier. This change will allow an established president-elect to best prepare their wholesaler employer for upcoming commitments and themselves for their upcoming Board obligations.
Lastly, the most exciting outcome of the Board meeting is the program for our 2018 Annual Meeting, proposed by the Program Co-Chairs Diane Mangan and Megan Quinn. After considering key industry issues and trends, and the 2017 Annual Meeting survey results, the Co-Chairs were inspired to create a theme and agenda that is significant, motivating, and timely to all EBMA members. Please see the Co-Chairs' overview of the 2018 Annual Meeting below.
There are many announcements and topics not to be missed noted throughout this newsletter. Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments. Have a wonderful summer!
Jill Faherty President, EBMA Director of Children's and Teen Services, Baker & Taylor jillfaherty@gmail.com
2017 Annual Meeting
EBMA is headed to Palm Springs, California for the 2018 Annual Meeting! The 43rd Annual Meeting will be held January 8-11 at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa.
The Program Co-Chairs, Diane Mangan of Baker and Taylor and Megan Bencivenni Quinn of Charlesbridge Publishing have announced the 2018 meeting theme, Back to Basics: Going back to school on the current state of funding, resources, and the needs of content users in schools and libraries. 2018's program will update attendees on trends in education and education standards and give perspective on how the new administration and budgets are projected to affect schools and libraries in the next 12 to 24 months. It will also address the "new normal" of staff shortages, political agendas and shifting curriculum and funding sources shaping purchases for classroom, and how publishers and wholesalers can work together to connect end users (and content consumers) with quality new resources.
Registration will open to members in September of 2017. Hotel rooms will cost $189 per night plus a $5 resort fee.
If you have questions regarding the meeting, please email meeting@edupaperback.org or call 540-318-7770.
New Members
At the May Board Meeting, the EBMA Board of Directors approved applications for the following organizations - we look forward to meeting these new members at the annual meeting!
There is still time to join as a member before the 2018 Annual Meeting. If you have a wholesaler or publisher contact that you would like us to reach out to regarding membership in EBMA, please forward their information to Brian Gorg at info@edupaperback.org. You may also refer them to the member applications found on the EBMA website.
Member Renewals
The 2017-2018 member dues are due July 1. Your company's administrator will receive the member letter and renewal invoice the first week of June. Please contact Maureen Gelwicks if the invoice is not received - meeting@edupaperback.org or 540-318-7770.
EBMA would like to make sure we are keeping in touch with all of our members and the people who work within their organizations. Each member organization has a primary membership administrator who may add, modify, or delete people from their company roster.
Company Administrators: To ensure we have the most accurate information about your company, please review your company's details, including contacts/employees, description, logo and contact information. Wholesalers, please click here to find your organization; publishers, click here. To update information within your company's profile, please complete this form.
Member Announcements
Professional News:
Harvey P. Berliner, after 18 years at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade and a 40-year career in publishing, retired this month. He earlier worked at Simon & Schuster and Bantam Doubleday Dell. You may now contact Harvey at harvey.berliner@gmail.com.
This month, Diane Mangan of Baker & Taylor was promoted to Vice President of Merchandise Buying - congratulations Diane! Send Diane your own well wishes at diane.mangan@baker-taylor.com.
Personal News:
Pat Nelson
of Mrs. Nelson's Library Services achieved his private pilot license on March 18th after about a year of lessons. He says, "It's a thoroughly impractical hobby, but the fun of flying my friends and family over the Rose Bowl, Dodger Stadium, and to Catalina Island is totally worth it. I dreamed of flying planes since I was a kid and decided to take a demo flight, which completely hooked me. After that it was simply hours and hours of practice and studying."
EBMA Meeting Manager, Maureen Gelwicks and her husband David welcomed their third child, Theodore (Teddy) Pierce Gelwicks on March 10th. Mom, Dad, big sister Penelope and big brother Jeremiah have enjoyed getting to know their new little guy!
Committee Updates
BISG Committee Update
The BISG committee has been tasked with determining how EBMA can partner with the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) to benefit our wholesaler and publisher membership. We will be participating in various BISG committees to better understand how their work affects our member companies, and how we can utilize the relationship between the two organizations to benefit our industry as a whole.
BISG is eager to collaborate with us, and moving forward we hope to be able to offer opportunities that our entire membership can participate in, including free webinars and reduced rates for paid webinars and in-person events.
There has never been a more critical time for our industry to tackle the metadata issues impacting the search, discoverability and sales of books. As one of our members recently stated: "If you don't take care of the metadata, it will take care of you." It is our hope that a partnership with BISG will allow EBMA to have a voice at the table when it comes to making metadata work for our members.
Webinar Committee Update
On Thursday, March 9th, we held our first educational webinar presentation "Nonfiction is HOT!"
Dr. Cynthia Giorgis shared with us her valuable insights and experience from serving on national non-fiction award committees on what makes an award-winning book and how NF enhances the PreK-12 curriculum.
We had a great turnout for the webinar, with over 50 unique participants, and many more attended as a group with their colleagues (a practice we encourage for future webinars!). Dr. Giorgis spoke about the kind of non-fiction titles teachers are looking for to engage young readers and several of our attendees were pleased to hear mention of their books. A number of participants had questions following her 30 minute presentation. A special thanks to Dr. Cynthia and all who joined!
But don't worry if you missed it - the webinar is archived on our website and available still to download and watch. We welcome you sharing this webinar with your colleagues! Click here to access the webinar (please note: you must be logged into your member account).
We have several more webinars in the works for this year, including one on the New Lexile measures for K-2 content, so please watch for future invitations. As always, we welcome suggestions for future topics. Please contact: meeting@edupaperback.org.
"I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the webinar this morning, especially the discussions on the criteria for the different awards and the information about narrative nonfiction. I look forward to the webinars to come!" Feedback from a pleased Nonfiction is Hot webinar participant
EBMA is always looking for ways to keep our community informed about the professional activities and personal events of its members. Please email info@edupaperback.org if there have been changes within your company, such as new employees, or if you have press releases that you would like to share with the EBMA membership. EBMA wants to connect at the personal level too, so if you have any notable anniversaries, birth or marriage announcements or other fun events, please let us know those too!
Stay connected to your EBMA connections throughout the year. Join the EBMA LinkedIn group where you can share news, keep yourself informed, and keep in touch. Whether you want to share information with the group or just monitor posts, you're invited to join today.
Highlights of the May 2017 EBMA Board Meeting
The EBMA Board of Directors met at the Annual Meeting for their spring board meeting in Boston, MA. Highlights and outcomes of the meeting included:
Presentation and acceptance of the 2017-2018 fiscal year budget. The budget passed kept membership dues and annual meeting fees the same from the year prior.
Reviewed and amended Article VI, Section 2, paragraphs 2&3 of the EBMA Bylaws. This amendment allows the board to initiate the nominating process for a new EBMA president in odd-numbered years immediately following the annual meeting in order to prepare the president-elect for their commitment as president. To review the amended bylaws, click here.
Reviewed the committee composition, adding news committee chairs/members to several committees.
Discussed the 2018 Annual Meeting; the 2017 Ludington Award, program and theme specifics.
Discussed a recruitment strategy for new members.
Discussed best ways to utilize BISG membership and disseminate information to EBMA members.
If you have questions about the work of the board or updates, please contact info@edupaperback.org.
