In 2004, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association established a Legacy Award to recognize those individuals who have contributed significantly to the realm of American arts and letters. NAIBA has chosen Politics & Prose co-owners Barbara Meade and Carla Cohen to receive the 2010 NAIBA Legacy Award.

The award was presented at the NAIBA Fall Conference's annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, September 21, at the Trump Marina Hotel in Atlantic City. Previous winners include Anne Tyler, Joyce Carol Oates, and Louis Auchincloss.

Meade has partnered with Cohen, founder of Politics and Prose, for 26 years. They have been widely recognized for building an independent book store of distinction with strong ties to its community, a close relationship with authors and publishers, and a full calendar of book groups and author talks.

Meade was born in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Vassar College. She has an MA in Literature from American University. During the 1960s she reported on D.C. public schools for Susan Stamberg's Kaleidoscope on WAMU. She entered the book business in 1978 at Moonstone Booksellers at Washington Circle, after which she owned her own bookstore, The Bookstall, in the Maryland suburbs.