Women's National Book Association

The Women's National Book Association (WNBA) was established in 1917 to promote the role of women in the community of the book. The organization includes 12 active chapters in the United States, as well as network members outside the regional chapters. WNBA is a broad-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a longstanding history of literary activism. It accepts corporate sponsorships, and offers three distinguished national awards.

History

The organization started in 1917, when women in the book industry were excluded from joining the professional organization, the Bookseller's League. Twenty-one women met in New York at The Sunwise Turn bookshop on November 13, 1917, and founded the Women's National Association of Booksellers and Publishers - soon to become known as the Women's National Book Association - as an organization to support and give voice to women in the book industry. The first President was Pauline Sherwood, of Sherwood's Book Store.

The early organization's unique characteristic was that membership was open to women in all facets of the book world-publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, illustrators, agents, production people – the only criterion being that part of their income must come from books. Almost 100 years later, with ten chapters spanning the country from Boston to San Francisco and with Network members across the country, the Women's National Book Association continues its mission to champion the role of women in the world of words, with women and men who are professionals in the publishing industry, who are authors, or are advocates of literature as members. The organization's newsletter, The Bookwoman, was created in 1936 by Constance Lindsay Skinner and has had continuous publication to the current date.