In a letter to members of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association on June 5, long-time executive director Hut Landon announced that he will retire by year’s end.

“Let me start by saying that this was my decision, fueled by nothing more than a desire to have a bit more time to enjoy life outside of work,” wrote Landon, who recently turned 65. He noted that he would like to spend more time at home and traveling with his wife Joy.

The NCIBA board has already appointed a search committee to find a successor. The goal is to have a new executive director in place prior to the Fall Discovery Show (Oct. 15-16). Landon will stay on to train his successor.

During his tenure at NCIBA, Landon was instrumental in adding the word “independent” to the name of the association and worked to get Amazon and other online e-tailers to pay sales tax in California. He also contributed to NCIBA's pioneering of the Book Sense program to promote indies, now IndieBound. More recently Landon helped create the first California Bookstore Day in 2014 and oversaw the first national Independent Bookstore Day last May.

Interested applicants can apply here to be considered for the NCIBA executive director spot.