NAIBA Legacy Award

NAIBA is proud to present the 2026 Legacy Award to Eileen Dengler

Eileen Dengler came to the bookselling world in 1984 to run the meetings & convention department at American Booksellers Association. She initiated the growth of the ABA Convention, which became one of the top ten conventions across all industries in the United States. When ABA sold the convention, Dengler went on to work for other associations before being called back to bookselling by NAIBA in 1999. At NAIBA, she grew the nascent association to national recognition and financial security, and has developed programs that are shared across the regions. In 2020, with the support of NAIBA, she incorporated the Professional Booksellers School, which has trained and advanced the skills of thousands of booksellers. Publishers Weekly named Dengler a 2025 Notable Person of the Year. After 10 years with ABA and 26 years with NAIBA, Dengler is retiring from NAIBA at the end of this year. She will continue to work with the Professional Booksellers School.

Historically, Eileen loves to prepare her garden in the spring, knowing full well in May her neglect encourages every weed to grow. Next year, without a conference to plan and execute, she will have the garden of her dreams, which includes three delightful and demanding grandchildren. She also plans to read novels in the morning, finish manuscripts that call to her from notebooks, lose track of time, get lost in thought, and play with her grandbabies every single day.

"When I asked the NAIBA Board who we were giving the Legacy Award to, and they said 'you,' I started to cry. This award is a big hug from the booksellers I have served so faithfully for 30 years. Every day with the people of NAIBA has been an opportunity to collaborate and create programs, services, events, and experiences for our booksellers. There's no better work in the world."