In February 2009, former Nashville and New York chapter member Carin Siegfried of Baker & Taylor, reached out to Tracy Adams of Adams Literary and Betsy Thorpe of Novello Press to discuss the possibility of a Charlotte chapter and to gauge interest. About 15 women – all voracious readers, of course – gathered March 1, 2009, at Park Road Books, an indie store in Charlotte, N.C., to hear Mary Grey James, national President-Elect, discuss the history and goals of the WNBA. Soon after, Charlotte chapter officers were elected and bylaws were approved, and the chapter was officially chartered June 6 at the annual National Board meeting. At the first official meeting held June 23 at Park Road Books, chapter President Carin Siegfried reported on the National Board meeting and Treasurer Sally Brewster – also the store’s owner – presented her summer reading recommendations.
Our regular programming year begins in September and runs through May with meetings on the second Monday of each month. Educational meetings usually alternate with social networking events. Examples of our events include our annual Bibliofeast book and author dinner during October — National Reading Group Month, meetings to discuss marketing on the Web, using social media, book clubs and book recommendations, young adult books, speed dating with agents, and more. In the years ahead, we look forward to hosting meetings on diverse book-related topics of interest to our members. Join us and bring YOUR own ideas and connections to the group!
We are working on adding more pages and much more information to our part of the WNBA website in the near future. Please check back soon — and also follow us on Facebook for updates on our activities and events:
Women’s National Book Association–Charlotte . For general inquiries, you can contact us at Wnbacharlotte [at] earthlink.net .
Please contact one of our board members for additional information on membership and getting involved:
- Susan Walker, President susan.walker.books [at] gmail.com
- Stephanie Ripperton, Vice President s.ripperton [at] gmail.com
- Carin Siegfried, Past President carinsiegfried [at] earthlink.net
- Carolyn Abiad, Membership Chair csabiad00 [at] gmail.com
- Quinlan Lee, Event Chair quinlan [at] adamsliterary.com