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This year Barnes & Noble is honoring four booksellers with the 2015 Above & Beyond Award, Barnes & Noble’s way to recognize booksellers for excellence in delivering extraordinary customer service, team spirit, going the extra mile, increasing business knowledge and personal growth. Let’s get to know the winners!

Mike Fleming
Store: Yonkers, NY
Exemplifies: Going the Extra Mile
Café Server Mike Fleming was recently hired from another coffee service company so he knows the business, but that is not what earned him our unanimous vote for Above & Beyond recognition.
On Tuesday, January 27, the Northeastern U.S. was under a state of emergency, possibly facing a blizzard of historic proportions! Despite the storm not living up to the hype, Store 2889 opened for business that day. Mike was not scheduled to work a Café shift, but with two Café callouts due to the storm, we were left in bad shape.
One phone call to Mike fixed all of that. He made it to the store and we were able to carry on our Café business as normal. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that we realized how Mike made it to the store – he walked six miles through wind, snow, cold and ice to make it to a Café shift that wasn’t even his to begin with!
What is your favorite treat from the Cafe?
Peanut Butter Cookie
If you could have a Cafe treat named after you, what would you call it?
Mike’s Peanut Butter Mocha Machiatta
What would be your superhero barista name?
Captain Cafe!
Who is the one person you’d love to make a drink for?
Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks because he likes a “damn fine cup of coffee”
What’s the best book you’ve ever read while sitting at the cafe?
House of Leaves, by Mark Z Danielewski
If you could have the cast of any movie sit in the Cafe for a day, what cast would it be?
Stepbrothers, because John C Reilly is the man!
What is your most recommended drink?
Vanilla Latte
What is the most asked for drink?
A tie between Mocha Frapp and Caramel Macchiata
What kinds of things do customers tell you that make you smile?
That I make a good drink.

Whitney Schuner
Store: Charlotte, NC
Exemplifies: Going the Extra Mile

CBDM Whitney Schuner is known within her district as a mentor to all new CBDMs and a huge support to non-CBDM stores. She never hesitates to offer her assistance on the phone, sharing her ideas, successful practices and even helps in-person for their events. She is the go-to resource for store managers who want a second set of eyes or opinions. Whitney takes pride in providing the best face for Barnes & Noble to all of her customers. Aside from driving her bookfair business and serving her institutional and corporate customers, she ensures Barnes & Noble is foremost on customer’s minds in the Charlotte community. She gives book talks at luncheons for local businesses and students, facilitates field trips via corporate partners, and champions the Arboretum Book Club to bring new customers into our store. She has managed a diverse range of events at the store, spanning from Animatronic Dinosaurs to the Charlotte Youth Ballet to Star Wars Players.
Recently, Whitney took the challenge of finding ways to get more exposure for the team a step further. She appeared on Good Day Carolinas, a Fox TV News segment that featured “Bestselling Books of 2014.” When Fox TV got great responses from their viewers to that segment, they booked Whitney for several subsequent segments, covering everything from new books for 2015 to African-American literature to modern classics. This segment is intended to continue with updates for Passover, Easter, beach reads, the must-have books for kids, and more! Whitney has made a positive impression with our customers in the store for 14 years. For seven years as a CBDM, she has wowed our schools and corporate clientele, and now has her own TV following, all while promoting Barnes & Noble! Whether in front of the camera or the customer, Whitney is always proud to ensure that Barnes & Noble is our customers’ favorite place.

Which are the top five books you recommend to customers?
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Last Policeman, by Ben H. Winters
A Land More Kind Than Home, by Wiley Cash
A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. Stead
Trash, by Andy Mulligan

What’s your work superpower?
I am usually able to calm almost any tense situation, with customers and booksellers alike.
Which store event was your favorite?
Charlaine Harris!
What’s the best part of your workday?
When I am able to make a customer happy, whether an institutional customer, or someone in the store, it makes my day!
What makes your store unique?
Our staff is really more like a family than just a team. We try really hard to make new hires feel welcome and a part of our team. When something good happens, it’s a team celebration!
What kinds of things do customers tell you that makes you smile?
The absolute best is being called to customer service so a customer can tell us how thrilled they are with an event. The second best is when our young shoppers and I get to talk about books we both love.
What’s your favorite book?
Can I really only pick one? Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin.

Bookseller: Donna Williams
Store: Fort Myers, FL
Exemplifies: Delivering Extraordinary Customer Service

“Bookseller Donna Williams takes a great sense of pride in our store and in everything she does to help make us successful. It is not uncommon to see Donna going the extra mile to ensure our displays are set and we have plenty of stock of hot-selling titles. Donna especially loves fiction and is the go-to person for the perfect recommendation. About four years ago, this love turned into “Donna’s Porch,” a pine table overflowing with Donna’s personal recommendations. For a typical four-week period, Donna’s Porch sells 475 books with an average price point of $15, generating more than $7,000 in sales. Customers routinely come in to check if Donna has added any new titles and often make their purchases based on what is displayed. Donna’s Porch has helped her hand-sell countless titles and provides other booksellers with trustworthy suggestions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come into work to find the latest PW on my desk with countless titles circled that Donna would like me to obtain. She is always trying to stay ahead of the curve and up-to-date on what is going on in our industry. Her commitment to her work is to be admired. Donna has been with our store for more than 10 years. I have met few people who truly love their job in the way she does. We are fortunate to have her as a part of our team. Donna is a bookselling gem.” —CRM Mercedes Lawler, Fort Myers, FL.

What are your top five favorite books to recommend to customers?
My list is huge, but good representations of my favorite recommendations are The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah, Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy, The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman, and The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

What character from a novel do you relate to the most?
I am not one to really put myself in the character’s shoes, but the character who has stuck with me the longest is Lara from Doctor Zhivago.
What is your favorite book genre?
Growing up in Charleston SC I just love Southern historical fiction, as well as novels or non-fiction history that take place around World War II and the Civil War. I like to learn something when I read.
What is the book you’ve recommended the most?
It would probably be Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline and I think the sales numbers would probably bear that out.
What book changed your life?
Sometimes books come to you when you’re supposed to read them and for me, Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova was that book. I can’t say that it changed my life, but it came along at the right time, when I needed it. Another book I knew immediately that I had to read was Orphan Train because my father was sent to live on a baby farm when he was little boy and that really peaked my interest.
What book do you think never seems to go out of style?
Gone with the Wind has stood the test of time and new readers always seem to discover it. Even though we mostly see kids reading it for school, To Kill a Mockingbird continues to be relevant.
What is your favorite title for a book?
Peace Like a River was one that caught my attention with the name and turned out to be one of my all-time favorite books. Also, Heading Out to Wonderful is a harrowing story, but I loved the title.
If you could live in the world of one book what would it be?
I read Doctor Zhivago when I was 21 years old and I just thought it was the ultimate love story! Nearing the end I only allowed myself one page a day because I didn’t want the story to end.
What kinds of things do customers say that make you smile?
That they love my list, they come back year-after-year for my recommendations and that they’ve chosen books I’ve recommended for their book clubs.

Rachel McAdams
Store: Rogers, AR
Exemplifies: Learning & Growing
Recently, during a selling conversation, Rachel McAdams discovered the customer was the superintendent of a school district. The superintendent experienced Rachel’s enthusiasm and passion for the B&N Educator Card and its benefits. This conversation eventually led to all 166 teachers in the school district obtaining B&N Educator cards. The extra effort she put into selling the program made the teachers see all the possibilities about how they would appreciate and benefit from the programs Barnes & Noble offers educators.
Rachel is also a superstar at selling Memberships. This year she has sold nearly 500 new and 248 renewal Memberships, for a conversion rate of approximately 8% for both new and renewals. This has significantly impacted the store’s Membership results, but it doesn’t stop there. Rachel has become a resource for the district and provides coaching and selling techniques to other stores. Her one-on-one interaction with other booksellers and head cashiers ensures they are well-versed in the selling skills she uses in her daily routines.
Rachel’s goal is to become a community business development manager and has made it her mission to drive institutional, bookfair and educator sales for the store and grow the business. She has set a new standard for selling achievement as a head cashier, and our store and the district have excelled as a result of her performance.