New appointments reflect BISG's commitment to inclusivity across the book supply chain

New York, NY (February 3, 2011) -- As part of a larger Board expansion project, four new companies were elected to the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) Board of Directors during a January 20, 2011 Board meeting. BISG's Board serves as the organization's policy-setting body and has ultimate authority for the governance and management of the group’s direction and finances.

The added companies include: Cengage Learning, represented by Ken Brooks, Senior Vice President, Global Production and Manufacturing Services; Firebrand Technologies, represented by Fran Toolan, Founder and "Chief Igniter"; Kaplan Publishing, represented by Maureen McMahon, President and Publisher; and Levy Home Entertainment, represented by Tara Catogge, Senior Vice President of Inbound Supply Chain.

"BISG is committed to being an inclusive book trade association," said Scott Lubeck, Executive Director for BISG. "The addition of these four companies to BISG's Board of Directors ensures the organization will continue to benefit from a diversity of knowledge and opinions from across the book supply chain."

The additions increase the number of BISG Directors to thirty-three. In addition to the new representatives, BISG's Board includes Chairperson Dominique Raccah, President and CEO of Sourcebooks; and Vice Chairperson Ken Michaels, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Hachette Book Group. A full list of BISG Board members can be found online at http://www.bisg.org/about/board.php.

"BISG delivers clarity and leadership around the issues and opportunities most vital to publishers today, from metadata standards to rights management," said Ms. McMahon, Kaplan Publishing. "What impresses me most about BISG is its commitment to unifying publishers with diverse audiences and business models to drive important changes that will lead to industry-wide benefits, such as the new industry data model, developed in partnership with the AAP."

"I am pleased to join my colleagues on the Board of BISG to explore and address the exciting opportunities and challenges that we face as an industry," said Mr. Brooks, Cengage Learning. "BISG's important work helps the industry to increase efficiencies, allowing us at Cengage Learning to focus on fostering academic excellence and professional development, increasing student engagement, improving learning outcomes and delivering authoritative information to people whenever and wherever they need it."

Additional changes to the BISG Board during the January 20, 2011 Director's meeting included the replacement of Andrew Weber, formerly of Random House, with John Bohman, Random House's Vice President of Sales and Customer Operations; the replacement of Deborah Wiley, formerly of John Wiley & Sons, with George Stanley, John Wiley's Vice President Director of Sales and Product Information, Professional and Trade Group; and the replacement of Ronald Weir, RR Donnelley, with David McCree, RR Donnelley's Senior Vice President of Sales, Book and Directory Group.

Media Contact:
Angela Bole
Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
angela@bisg.org
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About Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
The Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) is the U.S. book industry's leading trade association for policy, standards and research. The mission of BISG is to create a more informed, empowered and efficient book industry supply chain for both physical and digital products. Membership consists of publishers, manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, librarians, and others engaged in the business of print and electronic media. For over 30 years, BISG has provided a forum for all industry professionals to come together and efficiently address issues and concerns to advance the book community. Learn more about BISG at www.bisg.org.

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