NISO Member News
At its annual meeting in April, BISG members elected six new members to two-year terms on its board of directors. These new directors started their terms on July 1, with a reorganization meeting of the board planned for July 27.
BISG's board is made up of 14 seats divided across six supply-chain segments (publishers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, libraries, and industry partners). Terms are two years in length, renewable once. Previously, a board with almost three dozen at-large seats governed BISG. The current structure was adopted by the BISG board and ratified by membership in 2017, with an eye toward greater agility and more engagement across the different companies that represent the book industry.
Starting July 1, six new members started terms on the BISG Board:
- Jason Farrell (University of Toronto Press)
- Phil Madans (Hachette Book Group)
- Bridget Marmion (Bridget Marmion Book Marketing)
- Sabbithry Persad (Firewater Media Group)
- Kevin Spall (Scholastic, Inc.)
- Jason Wells (American Psychological Association)
These six new members join two returning members (James Miller, Barnes & Noble, and Paul Gore, FADEL) as members of the board through mid-2025. Taken together, the new members represent four of the six segments that make up the BISG board. Seats for the manufacturing and library representatives are elected every other year.
Welcoming the new and returning members is BISG's new chair, Joshua Tallent (Firebrand Technologies), who was elected to the role at BISG's annual meeting. The BISG chair serves a two-year term, in this case until 2025, and then becomes immediate past chair of the board. Joshua succeeds Kathleen Reid, formerly with Elsevier, who led the board from 2021 to 2023.
The BISG board oversees the work of the staff and its five standing committees, ensuring effective mid- and long-term planning. The board also reviews financial performance to keep the organization on-track and capable of delivering on its mission. A list of the 14 board members can be found on the BISG web site, along with a copy of the BISG bylaws and board-endorsed policies.