Board of Directors

President

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.

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

Sam Kaas • Norwich Bookstore • Norwich, VT

Sam Kaas 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. 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.

Directors

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.

Lisa Dugan • Macmillan Publishers

Lisa Dugan has been an Inside Sales Representative at Macmillan Publishers for the past four years, covering accounts across New England. Her bookselling career began during college at Oz Books in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Afterward, she worked at Barclay Booksellers in Pennsylvania before spending over 13 years at Koen Book Distributors in New Jersey, a wholesaler primarily serving independent East Coast stores. At Koen, she started in sales and marketing and later became the Children's Book Buyer. She was an active participant in NEIBA and NECBA meetings, even serving as NECBA Chair. Following her time at Koen, Lisa was the Picture Book Buyer for Barnes & Noble, working from their New York City corporate offices. Before joining Macmillan, she returned to frontline bookselling and managed the book fair program at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA.

Hannah Harlow • The Book Shop of Beverly Farms • Beverly Farms, MA

Since January 2020, Hannah Harlow is co-owner and operator of The Book Shop of Beverly Farms in Beverly, MA.  Prior to that, she spent 17 years working in publishing, mostly in the marketing department at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  She volunteers on the steering committee of the Newburyport Literary Festival, helping bring hundreds of authors to the North Shore of Massachusetts.  Her writing about books and bookselling has appeared in WBUR's Cognoscenti  blog and in a monthly column for the bookstore's local paper, The Manchester Cricket .  She also co-hosts the books podcast, Live from The Book Shop: John Updike's Ghost.  

Steve Iwanski •  Charter Books • Newport, RI

Steve Iwanski is the owner and general manager at Charter Books in Newport, Rhode Island. A native of Newport County, he got his start working summer retail jobs on and off the island. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he taught high school English in the Mississippi Delta before becoming manager at Turnrow Books in Greenwood, MS. Since opening in 2021, Charter Books has been named Micro Business of the Year by the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce and won the Independent Spirit Award from BPRNE. Steve enjoys starting bar fights over Moby-Dick and spending time with family.