Meet the latest group of booksellers elected as members of the ABAA.
Full Membership
Obadiah Baird - The Book Bin
For almost fifteen years Obadiah Baird has specialized in rare and collectible Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, while also running The Book Bin’s two large general interest shops in Salem and Corvallis Oregon. A second-generation member of the ABAA, Obadiah has exhibited with his father, at book fairs up and down the west coast and as far away as York England. With an eye towards attracting a new generation of collectors, he has expanded the kind of genre material you can expect to see at an Antiquarian Book Fair, placing signed first editions of popular current authors alongside classic works in the field. Now a full member of the ABAA in his own right, Obadiah looks forward to connecting collectors to the perfect book (or pulp magazine, or script, or fanzine) for years to come.
Kevin Sell - The Rare Book Sleuth
Kevin Sell is a bookseller with more than 15 years of professional bookselling experience. Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Kevin began his bookselling career at brick-and-mortar shops, selling both new and used books, before starting The Rare Book Sleuth, a full-service online bookshop. His primary focus is on modern first editions, with an emphasis on literature, science, philosophy and counterculture, although his generalist tendencies often find him expanding in new directions.
Kevin holds degrees in philosophy and psychology, is a graduate of the Colorado Antiquarian Bookselling Seminar and is a recipient of the IOBA Educational Scholarship. He has also worked as a curator and content writer for Arkive, a globally-distributed museum curated by members. You can find him online on most social media platforms, his website, as well as exhibiting at numerous book fairs, including the Twin Cities, Rocky Mountain and Philadelphia fairs. When he’s not reading or selling books, Kevin enjoys long distance running and spending time with his wife and son.
Brandon Wilhelm - Peruse the Stacks
Brandon Wilhelm began in the trade scouting to build his own collections, gathering materials related to his home state of Wyoming and his reading interests in horror fiction. Years later, when the shelves became too full and with the encouragement of family and friends, he founded Peruse the Stacks and suddenly everything, or almost everything, was for sale. Since the establishing of his business in 2020, he has completed the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and ABAA mentorship program, exhibited in several fairs on the West Coast, published numerous catalogues and lists, and has begun to hone in on a few specialties while remaining a generalist. He lives in Gig Harbor, Washington with his wife, Mallory, and sons, Roland and Gene. He enjoys baseball, playing music, and Texas barbecue.
Joint Full Members:
Alexis and George Sirrakos - Walnut Street Paper
Alexis (a native Michigander) and George (a New Yorker through and through) met in 2005 while pursuing their Masters degrees in Secondary Education at Lehman College in the Bronx. They spent the following years in New York City and Dresden, Germany as middle and high school science teachers, ultimately returning to the United States in 2011 to start their family. Shortly after their return, George earned his Ph.D. in Urban Education and secured a faculty position at Kutztown University, leading them to their current home in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. While George did his thing teaching future teachers how to teach, Alexis stayed home to raise their two spicy little girls and dreamed up bookselling as a possible new career path.
Alexis and George co-founded Walnut Street Paper LLC in August 2019, after Alexis attended the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS). Unlike many folks in the trade that they've come to know, they did not have any prior experience other than enjoying bookstores, antique shops, flea markets, and auctions. Yet, despite their lack of experience, the notion of becoming rare and antiquarian book sellers still seemed like a great idea. Since 2019, Alexis and George have exhibited at several in-person and online fairs, became members of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA), Alexis was selected to participate in the ABAA Women’s Initiative Mentorship program, and George attended CABS in 2024. Their growth in the book trade was made possible by the many formal and informal mentors who fielded their countless questions and engaged with them in meaningful conversations about how to succeed in the trade.
Like most co-owned shops, Alexis and George have varying interests, however, both tend to gravitate toward books, ephemera, and manuscripts that are visually interesting. George’s interests lie more with Americana, African Americana, the Beats, and social movements, while Alexis tends to be more interested in fairy tales, natural history, fantasy, science fiction, and Women and American Indian Movements. Alexis and George can be found through social media (FB/IG @walnutstreetpaper), their website, or seen engaging in friendly banter with colleagues at book fairs.
Associate Membership
Maria Lin - Rulon-Miller Books
Maria Lin has worked for Rulon-Miller books since 2013, after bouncing around various other student-era jobs in a law library, public library, archives, university publisher, and web development office. Her first serious introduction to the antiquarian book trade was through CABS, which she attended in 2012 and at which she now serves as faculty. At Rulon-Miller she has had the opportunity to sell every sort of book under the sun and enjoys the variety immensely. Of particular interest are books produced in Asia and books in uncommon languages. She also has a couple small personal collections of zines and chapbooks on the book trade and books on art conlangs.
Other Associate Members:
Kendall Spencer - De Wolfe & Wood