President

Emily Russo • Print: A Bookstore • Portland, ME

Emily Russo is the co-owner of Print: A Bookstore in Portland, ME.  Emily began her bookselling career in 2007 as the events coordinator for the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA.  In 2011, she moved to Brooklyn, NY with her family and took a job at Greenlight Bookstore to help launch their First Editions Club program and assist in running their extensive events series.  In 2015, she moved back home to Maine to pursue her dream of opening her own bookstore.  In November 2016, together with Josh Christie (formerly of Sherman's Books and Stationery), she opened Print.  She enjoys roasting her father, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, in event introductions.

Vice President

David Sandberg • Porter Square Books • Cambridge & Boston, MA

David is co-owner of Porter Square Books in Cambridge and Boston. David studied literature at Princeton and, after being informed by his mother that getting a Ph.D. in English was "the stupidest idea I ever heard", went to law school at Columbia and practiced law for 30 years. David serves on several boards, including the Cambridge Public Library Foundation, Actors' Shakespeare Project, and MIT Hillel. One of his two daughters works in publishing; the other is in the rabbinate; and his dog Rory is in rigorous training to be a shop dog. Since he and his wife Dina Mardell bought PSB in 2013, the milestones of which he is proudest are the sale of half the store to a group of employees in 2018, and the opening of Porter Square Books: Boston Edition in the fall of 2021.

Treasurer & Clerk

Meghan Hayden • River Bend Bookshop • Glastonbury & West Hartford, CT

Meghan Hayden is the owner of River Bend Bookshop in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Prior to opening the store in 2018, Meghan spent 20 years in Human Resources for Cigna, United Technologies, and GE. Her background includes roles in Leadership Development, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Labor Relations. She looks forward to sharing experience gained inside and outside of bookselling with NEIBA members and collaborating on efforts to strengthen the bookselling community in New England.

Director

Ryan Clark • Gibson's Bookstore • Concord, NH

Ryan Clark is the Marketing Manager for Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH. Ryan's bookselling career began as a frontline bookseller at Gibson's in 2012 shortly after graduating with an English degree. These days she runs the bookstore's social media and takes every opportunity to be (professionally) feral about Horror novels. She is also the host of Gibson's podcast, The Laydown. Ryan currently serves on NEIBA's Advisory Council. When she's not at the bookstore, she's at home in the woods of New Hampshire with her husband, her two book-loving (somewhat spooky) daughters and her socially anxious dog, Fenway.

Director

Sam Kaas • Norwich Bookstore • Norwich, VT

He was previously the Events Manager at Seattle's Third Place Books, and Events Coordinator at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington. Before becoming a NEIBA bookseller, he chaired the PNBA's Education Committee and served on the PNBA Board of Directors; he currently serves on NEIBA's Advisory Council. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he loves his adopted homeland of New England but retains a fondness for strong coffee and long walks in the rain.

Director

Katie McGarry • HarperCollins Publishers

Katie McGarry is the Northern New England sales rep for Harper Collins. She started her sales career as the rep for Bantam Books in Rhode Island and in the intervening years has crisscrossed New England, the Mid Atlantic and Eastern Canada for 9 different publishers. Katie is also a former member of the NEIBA Advisory Council.

Director

Liz Whitelam • Whitelam Books • Reading, MA

Liz is the owner of Whitelam Books in Reading, Massachusetts. Prior to opening the bookstore in November of 2017, Liz spent a couple of decades in marketing, technology, project management, and consulting. Opening the store provided not only the opportunity to put all of the skills from a corporate career to use in a book-centric dream enterprise, but also was a natural extension of the ongoing volunteer work Liz does in her town, trying to create a stronger and more welcoming community for all. Liz is the mother of a delightful 18-year-old who works part-time in the bookstore, and the wife of a charming Englishman who does not. When not working or reading, Liz spends time volunteering with various town committees and organizations, and playing and singing with her oldies band.