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November 9, 2026
Silver Spring, Maryland and Asheville, North Carolina
After a highly successful partnership under the umbrella of New Voices New Rooms (NVNR), the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), will return to holding separate conferences in their own regions in 2027.
NVNR 2026 in Baltimore drew record attendance and overwhelmingly positive feedback, but it also incurred the highest historical costs, with event and travel costs skyrocketing. Rather than passing that burden on to attending booksellers in future events, the two associations have decided to return to hosting conferences within their own regions, allowing for more accessibility and more manageable travel costs for attending booksellers.
Liz Hottel, Executive Director of NAIBA, calls the decision "a necessary evolution" for both associations’ mission to provide accessible programming and education for their members.
Created in 2020 in response to the pandemic, NVNR began by hosting virtual conferences before expanding to in-person conferences and smaller virtual events. The conference built on the two organizations’ long history of cooperative programming and initiatives: they share territory, each including the state of Virginia in their region, and also work together on their winter catalog program and in supporting the Professional Booksellers School.
Linda-Marie Barrett, Executive Director of SIBA, says that NVNR will continue to exist as a shared programming partnership, albeit in a different form. "We want to support the community we’ve built with future opportunities to share resources and inspire innovation," she says. "The NVNR identity is not going away. SIBA and NAIBA are looking forward to partnering for future in-person and virtual events, including uniting on advocacy around book bans and AI.”
Hottel agrees. “Our shared mission is always serving the booksellers. Both associations are energized about possibilities for future collaborations as well as the chance for growth this move offers our booksellers and our individual associations.”
More information about SIBA and NAIBA’s 2027 conferences will be announced in the coming weeks. Please reach out to Liz liz@naiba.com or Linda-Marie lindamarie@sibaweb.com with any questions.
About NVNR / Contact Info
New Voices New Rooms is the programming partnership and platform of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) and represents independent bookstores in 18 states in the South and Mid Atlantic.
Liz Hottel, liz@naiba.com
Executive Director, NAIBA
Linda-Marie Barrett, lindamarie@sibaweb.com
Executive Director, SIBA
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