Two Pacific Northwest booksellers recently joined the American Booksellers Association Board of Directors.

Jenny Cohen of Waucoma Books in Hood River, OR and Tegan Tigani of Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, WA started on the board this spring. They were the point people on a bookstore bus tour for booksellers at a recent national conference about children’s books in Pittsburgh, and they just got back from a board meeting in St. Louis, MO. The two previously served together on the Pacific Northwest Book Award panel and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association board. They’re still working on their selfie game after all these years.

Below are excerpts from Bookselling This Week’s interviews with the new board members.

Bookselling This Week: Please talk about your early experiences with reading and books.

Jenny Cohen: My parents are not big readers. They tend to read magazines and newspapers, but not books. Because they know that reading is important, they made sure to read to me every night when I was young. My mom used to leave me at the B. Dalton at the mall because she could run her errands and know that I wouldn’t leave the bookstore. Yes, she was one of those parents. I am a fast reader, so my mom quickly gave up on buying books and took me to the local library. After that, I went to the library almost every day. My mom said that I would check out about 20 books or more, bring them home to read, and then go back to the library next day to return the ones I had read and borrow more. By the time I was in high school, my mom discovered that there was a free book exchange in the basement of her employer’s building and she would take me down there to get books. I read a lot of romance books in high school because of the free book cart. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, but I didn’t know about Powell’s Books until I was in high school, when one of my friends took me there so we could buy used books for our required reading list for English class. It was amazing.

BTW: How did you begin as a bookseller, and how long after starting in bookselling did you begin to feel that you had found a special vocation?

JC: I became a bookseller when my husband, Muir, and I purchased Waucoma Bookstore. Muir always said that he planned to buy a bookstore when he retired. We were living in Portland, Oregon, and knew that we would eventually move back to Hood River, where Muir was born and raised. I had plans to take over my father-in-law’s tax accounting practice because I had recently become a licensed tax consultant. We had no idea what Muir would do since there weren’t any computer engineering jobs in Hood River. The previous owner of Waucoma sent an e-mail to family and friends announcing that she was ready to retire and sell the bookstore. Multiple friends forwarded the e-mail to us, and after much discussion, research, and soul-searching, we decided to put in an offer. I ended up only working one tax season for my father-in-law because I do multiple jobs for the bookstore — book buying, gift buying, marketing, coordinating events, and maintaining our website.

I knew that I had found a special vocation when I went to the PNBA trade show for the first time. It was great to connect with other booksellers and share information. We’re all competitors but are very supportive of each other. You don’t find that in many industries. I’ve met a lot of booksellers at trade shows and Winter Institute over the years, and I know I can reach out to any of them when I have a question or need help with something at my store.

BTW: What do you think was the most important factor that led to you buying your store?

JC: The bookstore is one of the oldest existing businesses in Downtown Hood River and we wanted to continue its legacy. Muir grew up with the bookstore and we didn’t want to see it disappear. It had a solid financial history and consistent revenues year after year, which didn’t hurt.  Many people said they breathed a sigh of relief once they found out that a local was purchasing the bookstore and it was going to continue.

BTW: What do you think are some of the most important changes in bookselling since you bought your store?

JC: I think that technology has really changed how we do things. We purchased a store that did not have a point-of-sale system. It was difficult to track inventory, what was selling, and trends. I’m a numbers person, so we computerized a year after taking over the store. Shortly after that, we found out that we could upload our data into Above the Treeline, which would allow us to compare our sales trends with other indie stores across the U.S. Being able to see our sales history while ordering also saved us time. Above the Treeline and Edelweiss have really made the buying process more efficient and inventory management decisions easier.

The call for more diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry has been an important change. I first started attending trade shows and conferences in 2008, and I was often one of very few people of color at these events. I’m excited to see more inclusive and diverse books being published. I’m Filipino-American and there weren’t any characters that looked like me when I was growing up. My son is two-and-a-half years old, and he will be able to read about characters that are like him when he gets older. I just met author Erin Entrada Kelly, who is Filipino-American, at Children’s Institute in Pittsburgh. I had her sign all her books for my son and I’m saving them for when he is older. This is also the first year that I’ve been able to read multiple new release books written by Filipino-Americans.

Read more about Jenny, including the author with whom she’d most like to tour a specific place.

Bookselling This Week: Please talk about your early experiences with reading and books.

Tegan Tigani: As I child, I often read books beyond my reading level or otherwise “inappropriate” for me. I remember choosing a copy of Black Beauty as a souvenir on a family road trip when I was in kindergarten. I probably spent the whole ride back leaning over to ask my sister, “What’s this word?” I read Clan of the Cave Bear before I was in middle school, too, and went right on to the sequels from my mom’s shelves. I sometimes bring those stories up in conversation with parents who are worried about finding a just-right book for their children because I don’t want reading to be stressful for parents or kids. I believe that if a reader is interested enough in a book, they won’t be discouraged by a too-high reading level. I believe that if young readers choose books with inappropriate adult content, some of it will go over their heads but what they do get won’t corrupt them. I like to say, “I read a lot of racy books when I was very young, so I didn’t have to experiment in real life.” Enjoying reading is a key to lifelong learning. Treat yourself, push yourself, let yourself be curious, no matter what age.

BTW: Did you hold other positions in the book industry before becoming a bookseller?

TT: A part-time job at Queen Anne Avenue Books was my first job out of college. In high school, I worked in the school library, was president of the Library Club, and had the librarian as my advisor, so I had been on a bookish path for a while. Since becoming a bookseller, I have added to my book industry resume, though: I also work as a developmental editor for Girl Friday Productions and as a children’s picture book acquisitions editor-at-large for Sasquatch Books.

BTW: How did you begin as a bookseller, and how long after starting in bookselling did you begin to feel that you had found a special vocation?

TT: For two years after I moved to Seattle, I worked five days a week as the operations manager at The Children’s Museum and one day a week at the bookstore. I’ll never forget when a little girl came into the museum art activity I was leading and whispered loudly to her mom, “It’s THE BOOKSTORE LADY!” That was the first time I really identified as a bookseller. Katie is still a customer, even after going off to college, and she still makes me proud to be a bookseller.

BTW: You get a day to walk through any city, town, or landscape with any one writer. What writer and what place?

TT: Part of me wants to pick Ross King for a tour of Florence, but I think that by rereading Brunelleschi’s Dome, I can get a close approximation. Another part of me wants to romp through the Lake District with Beatrix Potter, because how fun would it be to go hedgehog-spotting and bring sketch books together? But I think I’d have to choose Barcelona with Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I got to meet him at a dinner in Seattle before The Shadow of the Wind was published in the U.S., and I’m a huge fan. He is such a vivid storyteller on page and in person, and I know he would share the city’s history, lore, and best places to eat!

Read more about Tegan, including what she’s reading now.