SIBA Executive Director Linda-Marie Barrett to Step Down at Year End

Is the head of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance leaving? Yes. SIBA said in an October 13, 2026 release that executive director Linda-Marie Barrett will step down at the end of 2026. The board is forming a search committee for her successor and says more details will follow.

Barrett joined SIBA as assistant executive director in 2017 and became executive director in 2020. The association is based in Asheville, North Carolina. The release went out under SIBA News and is framed as a formal personnel announcement, not a rumour.

What changed on her watch

SIBA's release credits Barrett with a stretch of growth and rebuild work. Membership more than doubled. Staffing expanded into social media, membership and sales roles. Existing programs were rebranded and updated, and new ones launched, including an Anti-Racism Toolkit and Indie Press Socials.

The association also points to two partnerships from her tenure: with RAMP, the Regional Association Marketing and Promotions consortium, and with the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) on New Voices New Rooms programming, online and in person. Those are the kinds of cross-regional projects that decide whether a Southern indie store hears about a debut at the same time as a Mid-Atlantic one.

In 2025, SIBA finished a rebrand and systems overhaul it called "A Bright Future," with a new logo, website and association management system. Barrett's departure notice arrives after that project is already live, which is how the release presents the timing: a handoff after the rebuild, not during it.

What Barrett said

"This feels like the perfect moment for me to pass the baton on to the next executive director, who can keep moving SIBA forward in ways that serve and energize our growing membership," Barrett said in the release. She called the job "the best job in the world" and an honor to share with staff and the board. After publishing Creating a Salon in 2025, she said she wants more time for writing projects and for family.

What happens next

The board is developing the search committee now. SIBA did not name an interim director in the October 13 release. Press contact listed there is the SIBA office at siba@sibweb.com, with the association site at www.sibaweb.com.

Authors and publicists who work Southern indie calendars should expect contact paths and program ownership to shift once a successor is named. Until then, the safe assumption is that existing staff keep the day-to-day running while the board searches.

Why it matters for authors

Regional bookseller groups still shape indie discovery. SIBA is one of the main trade associations for independent bookstores across the South. Its programming, partnerships and staff capacity affect which authors get in front of those buyers, especially midlist and debut writers who will never see a national chain campaign.

Leadership handoffs are a timing risk for store campaigns. If you are planning a Southern indie tour, a regional holiday push or a New Voices New Rooms-style showcase for early 2027, watch who runs the program after the baton pass and whether dates or contacts move.

Association capacity is the story under the personnel note. Doubled membership, new staff roles and a full rebrand are the concrete changes SIBA chose to highlight. Those are the levers authors actually feel when a regional group promotes a title, opens a pitch window or staffs a show floor.

Write down your current SIBA contacts now. When an executive director leaves, email aliases and "who handles X" knowledge get reshuffled. A short note in your outreach sheet today saves a month of bounced messages later.

Sources

• Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance: SIBA Executive Director to Step Down at the End of the Year (October 13, 2026)